


The Crimson Flower

by muffincollection



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Kun, Bad Parenting, Enemies to Lovers, Falling In Love, Happy Ending, Homophobia, Idiots in Love, M/M, Misunderstandings, Rich Ten, Semi-Eventual Smut, mental health talks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:27:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23470912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muffincollection/pseuds/muffincollection
Summary: Ten, a rich businessman is sent to the city with little income to ‘teach him a lesson.’ Upon his job search, he meets a young and philosophical artist Kun— who is more than displeased of his presence.The problem; however, is Ten’s good at being himself— persistent, charming, and a little bit of a pain.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 8
Kudos: 122





	The Crimson Flower

**Author's Note:**

> this work... is literally my baby. NOT BETA READ AT ALL THO. i have a pea for brain.
> 
> this is my first ever kunten fic. holy FUCK.
> 
> i wrote this in a week and it took all my might time not lose motivation. i said, PUT EVERYTHING ON HALT TILL I FINISH THIS!
> 
> and i did... haha
> 
> also.
> 
> the reasoning for mental health talks tag is that while taeyong is not really a main character, there is a specific plot point that revolves around mental health for him. ten and taeyong are bffs in this! 
> 
> also johnyong fiancé’s... and getting a babie soon 🥺
> 
> other than that, there’s mentions of food and bad parents. (like ten and kun's parents are asses.) 
> 
> u might want to fight both of them throughout this. and all of this is in ten’s pov so pls give kun a Chance <3 he’s babie!
> 
> these characters are not related to the real life them, in no way or form. this is pure fan fiction and should not be associated with the real them. thank u so much!!
> 
> PLEASE ENJOY!

“Good morning, Sir, I bought you coffee!” A girl said, she quickly got up next to him and offered a nervous smile. Ten looked down. 

“Well is there any cream or sugar in it?” Ten had absentmindedly, continuing to walk and inspect the group projects. He’d given a strict order to create a decent design for a new museum being built in the city. There were certain criterias they had to meet for their project to be even  _ considered.  _ Ten turned. “Are you just going to stand there like a fool?”

“Oh! Sorry—“ She cleared her throat and nodded, “Yes, Sir, there is!” 

Ten bummed and took the coffee from her, immediately the bitter taste inflicted his mouth and he spit it out into the cup. “Are you trying to poison me?”

“Sir I—“ Ten holds a hand up and shakes his head, shooing her away. He drops the coffee in the garbage and steps into the meeting room where a few of his employees requested him to inspect their project. Upon seeing it, he can already point out three errors. 

“The podiums are too far apart,” Ten says, he sits down in the chair and pulls the model up closer to him. “The staircase steps are too wide. I requested narrow steps so it’s easier to walk up, did I not?”

“You did, sir, but it is more aesthetically—“ A blonde girl begins to speak but is cut off when the model is shoved away. 

“No, no!” Ten yells, “This is all wrong. Are you idiots?” He falls back in his chair with a scoff. His employees looked at him with nervous eyes. 

“Sir,” One of them begins, “We did exactly what you asked us to do—“

“If you did exactly what I asked you to, then why the hell is the entire model wrong?” Ten quirks an eyebrow, “Huh? Do you think since you’re newbies you can get away with an error as large as this? The entire model will collapse if we were to build this!” 

He slams a hand down and pushes their papers away, “Get out of my face.”

The employees gather their items and dash out of the meeting room, making Ten roll his eyes. “ _ Fucking kids.”  _

One of his fellow co-workers comes in with a frown. “You’re too harsh, Ten.” He shakes his head as he sorts the papers across from him. 

“I’m teaching them that they won’t get anywhere if they don’t follow my fucking rules,” Ten replies, “You were once in that position. Now look at you, Yukhei. You’re one of the top architects of the company.”

“That doesn’t mean it does hurt to get screamed and brought down by the man they’re working for,” Yukhei looks away and picks up the papers. “You know what your Dad’s doing?”

“What, being more absent than he already has?” Ten scoffed, he stands up and grabs the bag sitting on the chair next to him. “I’m going on my lunch break.”

“No, he’s sending you to America to get your shit together,” Yukhei smiles warmly, “You’ll be on your own and have to get a job too. Of course your Dad will be paying for your apartment and things such as, but you’ll be in charge of everything else like your bills and food.” 

“He can’t do it if I say no.” Ten responds, “That man can’t force me into anything.”

“You’re flight leaves tomorrow,” Yukhei supplies, “You can go whenever you’re cleaned up. Mr. Leechaiyapornkul will stop by tonight to make sure you’re packed up.”

Ten takes a deep breath, then nods. He slings the bag over his shoulder and leaves the room without another word. 

Sure, he’s an asshole sometimes, but being sent to a different country to essentially ‘teach him a lesson’ is bullshit to him. 

All his life his father gave and gave, but was never there for him. His mother died when he was so young, so his father worked so he wasn’t home to see his son as a reminder of her. They moved to a completely different country, away from Thailand, and his father just grew his business in South Korea. Ten knew what was going on, the maids that took care of him were nice at least. By no means was his childhood bad, but if his father tried a little harder to support and be there for him maybe he would act differently. In college, luckily, he’d taken many years of English and often enough growing up his tutors would teach him as well. 

Ten leaves the building and gets in his car that’s parked at the very front, pulling out and speeding away. Well, as much as he could in the busy streets of Seoul. He felt like punching something. 

His apartment was located at a building seven blocks down from his work building. It wasn’t far, but the drive felt like years. 

—

Three hours later, and many angry punches to the dummy in his gym, Ten is packed and ready to leave whenever. He still feels pissed about this, his father having such control of his life even at the age of 25. 

There’s a knock on his door, making Ten jump and look at it annoyed. His father had a key. 

Ten walks to the door and swings it open, looking at the tired eyes of his father. He offers a crooked smile, “My son.”

“Father,” Ten says, stepping aside and walking to the kitchen. He pours a cup of wine for the two of them and rests against the counter. His father takes his suit jacket off, then his shoes and walks up to Ten. 

“I’m doing this for your own good, Chittaphon,” He says quietly, he reaches for Ten, but his son pulls away. “Come on, son.”

“No,” Ten says, “You’re sending your only son away to a foreign country without a second thought. I think I have the right to be mad about this.”

“You don’t understand, Ten,” His father replies, “The media is painting you to be some horrid kid and I don’t want that. You’re too harsh and push your workers to their limits.”

“Oh please, where do you think I get this from?” Ten spat. “All my life you’ve neglected me to the maids, I lived by myself through the high school years then you begged on your knees so I’d take over your spot when you retired. You think I’m some lousy bum of a man?”

“Chittaphon!” His father yelled, “That is  _ no  _ way to speak to your father!”

“Oh boohoo, old man, send me away for all I care,” Ten laughed, “Jesus Christ, you’re pathetic!”

Their relationship was never built off of love. After Ten had become the Head of Architecture, it was strictly business. Ten pushed off the counter and headed towards his room. 

“Send me a driver by 9 am, I’ll be ready,” Ten slammed the door and collapsed on his bed. If he could just punch a hole into the wall, he would. 

The morning comes quicker than Ten would like, but he manages to shower, get dressed in comfortable clothes, and be out the door with fifteen minutes to spare. He orders a coffee at the shop next door and as he’s walking out some kid almost knocks him over. Ten looks up to see a mother bow her head and mutter an apology, before rushing behind him. He heads back to the front, the bellboy is standing with his luggage at the front. 

“Here you go,” Ten hands him a tip and grabs his backpack and three suitcases. The driver pulled up just in time and he shoved all of his luggage into the back, getting inside and slamming the door. 

“Good morning, Sir, are you buckled?” His driver smiles kindly. 

“Yes, thank you.” Ten responds as he clicks the seatbelt. He leans back, exhausted. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night due to a few last minute business meetings he had over skype and he had to call his grandparents. 

Ten manages to get a few hours of shut eye before they arrive at the airport. He gets out and thanks the driver before going to the back and gathering his suitcases and backpack. Ten didn’t have much problems carrying all three suitcases, they had handles and one of them was able to be rolled. Plus he lifted a lot when he had free time to build muscle strength and keep fit— by no means was he buff— but he was capable. 

He entered the airport and was immediately reminded of the dress that was going to be his life. Who sends their 25 year old son away for attitude problems? 

After going through bag check and security, he got his suitcases taken and his backpack returned in a short time. Ten tried to offer a smile, but the man turned away.  _ So much for being nice.  _ He dragged himself to the gate and collapsed on a chair. Rubbing his eyes, he noticed a small child sitting next to his mother. 

Ten waved, and the child smiled happily at him and waved back. Children were precious to him, such innocent pure souls— sure they had their moments of terror— but that didn’t take away the fact they were so naive to the world they lived in. He wished he were a kid again, but maybe in a different life. 

Finally, over the speaker he hears his flight being called for boarding and stands up. He grabs his backpack and looks at the line that was building up. Thankfully, he managed to get his father to get first class so he did not have to worry about sitting next to some snoring grandma. Ten wasn’t a fool. Never was, he recognized his privilege and sure— he was quite a brat and over the top at points, but how else was he going to exert his dominance over his employees? 

There was many ways to assert dominance—  _ like _ —

“Sir, your passport and ticket?” The women at the gate brought him back to life and immediately apologized and gave his items to her. She smiled awkwardly, and handed them back. “Have a safe flight.” 

Ten rushed to the first class area and took his seat. He wasn’t by anyone, thankfully, and he hoped it stayed like that. He closed his eyes again, this time hopefully he’d sleep the entire way there and not have to worry about the boredom the flight would bring. 

After all of the announcements and procedures were talked through, Ten managed to get comfortable and put his airpods in, thankfully they were sound resistant and allowed him to not worry about what was going on around him. Everything could just be drowned out. 

He ended up falling asleep an hour later, then being woken up by a flight attendant tapping his shoulder. Ten nodded in response and grabbed his backpack, dragging himself from the plane and into the airport. 

His next flight left in an hour, so he opted to get something to eat before he left. Ten sighed, checking his phone. 

**_Yukhei_ **

**_10:30 AM_ **

_ Have a safe flight and trip. I’ll be thinking of you! _

Ten would just respond later. He didn’t really want to hold a conversation. It was around 5pm here and 1am there, meaning Yukhei would still be awake and definitely try and conversate with him if he even said a simple ‘ _ thanks _ ’. Ten steps out into the terminal and looks for a place he can get something to eat, then settles for some burger place. 

He didn’t even know where he was. 

—

New York City was big. Like  _ very  _ big, and Ten hated it. It smells weird, people rushing to work and the hundreds of smelly old people that ran into him were overbearing. Not to mention how ugly the city actually was, definitely nothing that everyone makes it out to be. 

He grabbed a taxi and told the man his address to the apartment building, then pulled out his phone to message Yukhei that he was in New York. The time was roughly 1am, to say he wasn’t exhausted would be an absolute lie. Ten watched as buildings passed, his mind wandering to how this was going to help him in any way— he had his way of things. 

Being charming was definitely one of them. He was good at pretending and good at getting what he wanted even if there was a setback. This wasn’t going to be a challenge for him. He had a card and he only had a few thousand to pay the bills and buy groceries for a few weeks, then his income was his duty. He’d find a job in the afternoon, if he was lucky maybe he would get the job immediately and start the next day. The only problem was  _ where  _ would he get a job. There were so many places and he did  _ not  _ have a car. 

When they arrived at the apartment, Ten left a good tip after paying for the ride and told the man to have a good night. He looked at the apartment building, it definitely wasn’t the most  _ high  _ class buildings in the city. But it wasn’t disgusting, so he was grateful for that. Ten trudged himself into the building with his suitcases and looked at the front desk. No one was there. 

“Hello?” Ten walked up to the desk and pressed the bell, when no one showed he rolled his eyes, “This is absurd.”

Seconds after, a woman came rushing out and smiled nervously, “I’m so sorry! What can I do for you?”

“I’m checking in,” He says, “Under the name Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul?”

“Oh—Could you help me with the spelling?“ After Ten helped her, she clicked a few times, “Oh I see, well.. Okay so! Your room is 354F!” She holds the key out for him to take. 

“Okay.” Ten nodded. He walked to click the elevator button and put his head down in a way to collect his thoughts. This was absurd in every way— the company needed him and the building was surely to go aflame if he didn’t put some sense into those  _ idiots _ heads. When it dinged open, he looked up to see a familiar face. 

“Taeyong?” Ten gasped, “The fuck are you doing here?” It was in a more joking manner and the said boy smiled. 

“Your father called me up and told me to welcome you here, so here I am!” Taeyong laughed— god it felt nice to have  _ someone  _ he knew be with him. “It must be hard to travel to a completely foreign country and have to support yourself.”

“It’s not a big deal, I’m just pissed my Dad’s getting rid of me like this,” Ten steps into the elevator and leans against the wall. “Don’t you live with your boyfriend?”

“Oh, I do,” Taeyong said, “But I recently lost my job because  _ apparently _ I was slacking— but really I think it’s because the boss saw me kiss my boyfriend goodbye. I mean, I could like sue him for it or something— but it’s useless.”

“Old men are batshit crazy,” Ten replies, “But what are you doing here?”

“I work here!” Taeyong smiles, “I accidentally spilled a bucket of paint so there were like seven employees on my ass as I cleaned it.”

Ten chuckles and presses floor six, and looks at Taeyong fondly. “I really miss you, you know.”

“Oh Tennie, I missed you too,” Taeyong goes for a hug, and instead of denying it like he usually would, he accepts in and allows Taeyong to loosen in his gold. “It’s been really hard.”

“Oi, just know that it’ll get better,” Ten pats the back of his head. “With Johnny and me, you’ll be okay. You’re strong, you know?”

“Thank you.” Taeyong said softly, and as if on cue a light flickered above their heads. Taeyong pulls away and looks up. “Stupid light, never works.”

The doors open and they both step out. 

“What’s your room number?” Taeyong asks, bouncing ahead. 

“354.” Ten replies. 

The room was further down the hall, Taeyong practically dragging him there. “Technically, I’m supposed to be cleaning rooms. But I took my break early so I could be with you!”

“Oh, Yong you didn’t have to do that,” Ten smiled, reaching a hand to pat his hair. “But let’s get inside, I hate stuffy halls.”

“You’re so weird for that pet peeve,” Taeyong remarks while Ten unlocks the door. The two step in and Ten is happy to see that the apartment isn’t atrocious in any way, more so just right for one person to live. 

“So, Taeyong, how have you been holding up since—“ Ten stops and waits to see if Taeyong will continue. 

“It’s fine, stressful, but I’ll make it,” Taeyong smiles, “Besides, what did I expect? I’m a gay man in a gay relationship— and it’s just… different.”

“You two were over qualified though,” Ten replies, “You’ve been dating for what, ten years now? You and Johnny are getting married in  _ June  _ for God’s sake.”

“They didn’t care about that,” Taeyong sits on the couch. “They got word that a woman and her husband wanted to adopt the kid, so they threw us out the window because it’s a ‘better opportunity’ for the child to grow in an environment where there’s no set backs or discrimination.”

“They’re wrong for that, Taeyong,” Ten said, “You were excited for the kid. They took that away from you with no proper reasoning.”

“Well, they told me another reason was because I was an unfit parent, even after clearing me the first time,” Taeyong said. “They said they re-evaluated my papers from the rehab center and told me that  _ ‘your mental stability may negatively affect the child’s well-being.’  _ but it doesn’t make sense. It’s been three years— I’m better now.” 

Ten listened quietly as Taeyong continued with how he was doing much better, that Johnny is easy and understanding. He said that they both were excited to adopt their first child, and when their entire evaluation and process was thrown out the window they were heartbroken. They were going to try again, but the adoption agency they went to denied their request. 

“I can’t help but think it’s my fault,” Taeyong rubbed his eyes, “If I wasn’t the way I was— would we have a child by now.”

“No, darling, this world is filled with nasty people who have a close-minded way of living. They don’t want to see or care for how same-sex couples are just as capable as opposite sex.” Ten argues slightly, “This world will have nasty, vile, people. But Taeyong, you have every chance in the world with Johnny to get your kid. You two will get there at some point.”

So Ten wasn’t an asshole, never was. His perseverance was extremely intense, alongside his passion and perfectionism. It wasn’t that he was the biggest jerk to grace the planet— he just wasn’t understood. 

“You’re my best friend,” Taeyong says, “Don’t let people take you down because they’re scared of your determination.”

Ten smiled. “Thanks, Yong.”

They spent the rest of the day unpacking, and Taeyong even offered to take him to lunch— and who was Ten to deny a free meal? 

“I’ll pick you up at 12 tomorrow, okay!” Taeyong kisses his cheek goodbye and heads back down to the lobby. 

Ten looks at himself in the mirror next to the door, “I am so fucked in every single way.” He groans. He pulls himself into the bedroom and passes himself out on the covers, not bothering to change or shower before sleeping. Exhaustion was sweeping over his body. 

In the morning, he wakes up with only thirty minutes to spare. He takes a quick shower and pulls a button up and jeans on, heading to the front door and shoving his feet into his black tennis shoes. Ten pockets his phone and wallet, then rushed down to the lobby. 

“Good morning, S—“ The woman doesn’t get to finish, as Ten is already out the front doors and stumbling into the sidewalk. 

Taking a deep breath, he looks around for Taeyong. But the latter is nowhere to be seen. He’s about to call him, but someone collides with him sending them both to the ground. 

“God, watch where you’re going!” Ten scolds, picking himself up and stretching his wrists. “You being that clumsy will be the death of your—“

“I’m sorry!” The other man cuts off, Ten finally looks up. 

He is quite possibly met with the most beautiful man he’s ever seen— and he’s friends with  _ Taeyong  _ and that’s saying something. Ten stutters over his breath and shakes his head. “N-No, it’s okay.” He brushes off. The man quirks an eyebrow but nods nonetheless and runs off. 

Ten feels like he's going to burn with embarrassment— he just yelled at a beautiful man whom he will  _ never  _ see again. His inner monologue is cut to an end when Taeyong blows his car horn. 

“What has you so starstruck?” Taeyong coos as Ten gets in the passenger seat, “Don’t worry about it.” Ten whacks his friend's arm and Taeyong pouts. 

“You look like you got ready in three minutes, Ten,” Taeyong chuckles, “You okay?”

“Well, I woke up thirty minutes before you came, so that’s why.” Ten frowns, “Do I look that bad?”

“Your shirts buttoned wrong and your flies undone, did you even bother with your hair?” Taeyong reaches to fix his hair, but is met with a swat. 

“Ah, that guy who ran into me must think I’m a total loser!” Ten pulled down the sun blocker and opened the mirror. “Shouldn’t you be driving?”

Taeyong jolts, “Oh, right!” He starts the car and pulls off into the street. 

Ten just shakes his head. 

—

The two of them arrive at a modern-looking brown and grey building. Ten looks up for the name, and in bold white words it says,  _ Johnny’s BBQ.  _ Aghast, Ten turns his head to look at Taeyong who is smiling sheepishly. 

“Johnny’s restaurant became a success, all the hard work paid off in the end,” Taeyong said giddy, “It’s been a success, he’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him.”

Ten nods once. “That’s everything he deserves, he’s a great guy.”

When they walk in, they’re greeted by a nice woman with long red hair. Taeyong holds up a two and makes a special request to see ‘Mr. Seo’, with a sly smirk. 

They’re seated at a nice reserved area, probably given to them by Johnny. When the door opens, Johnny enters. 

“Ten, it’s good to see you!” Johnny smiles, holding a hand out for Ten to shake. 

“The pleasure is mine, congratulations on your success,” Ten says as he shakes the tall man’s hand. 

Johnny pulls away and maneuvers Taeyong up and into his arms, kissing him softly. He looks up again and lifts an eyebrow, “Yong told me that you were coming, but didn’t really specifically tell me why. What brings you to New York?”

“Well, apparently I have an attitude problem,” Ten says. He shakes his head, “My father sent me away to teach me a lesson. I don’t know what lesson I need to be taught, however.”

“You’re quite headstrong,” Johnny laughs, “Maybe being away from him will be good for you.”

Yeah, Ten did like getting his way. He liked things falling into order for him and liked to be in control— was that so wrong? But maybe Johnny had made a valid point, he  _ was  _ getting away from his father, the man that he dreaded more than anything in this world. 

“You’re right Johnny,” Ten replies, “I guess it will be good to be away from him. He’s always so nit-picky.”

After a few more minutes of chatting, Johnny finally lets them be and heads out the door. Taeyong smiles softly. 

“It feels good to have you back,” Taeyong said, “Ever since Johnny and I left Korea because of my parents, I’ve been wondering if I’d ever see you again. As I don’t have much time to travel nor the money, I was always left curious if I’d see the one person that means the most to me next to Johnny.”

Ten sighed, “I admit I haven’t been that present in your life since you’ve left, and I apologize for that. Work started to kick my ass, but that’s no excuse to not send you a text. I’m glad we can go back to how things are with no setbacks.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Taeyong said, “Johnny was offering to give you a job, if you want to take it.”

As much as Ten would like it to be that easy, he wanted to prove he didn’t need any help. He could be on his own. 

“If I can’t find any other job, I’d be happy to take you up on that offer,” Ten denies politely.

They finish lunch a few hours later, and Taeyong bids Ten a goodbye, wishing him luck for finding a job. He searched online for a few places to find a job at. There were many job offerings, but as Ten walked along the streets of NYC, he noticed a small sign next to a skinny brick building in between large establishments. He quirked a brow and walked towards it. 

_ ‘Benny’s Book Place: Now Hiring! Pay starting at 15$ an hour.’  _

It wasn’t that bad, actually a good starting pay for what seemed to be such a small place. Ten entered, letting the warm breeze of the bookstore blow against him. When he entered, it smelled of coffee and lime. He walked around, looking at the tall bookshelves with countless old books and dictionaries of all sorts. There were also books in many languages, such as Indonesian, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, and French. 

Ten hummed, the shelves were quite dusty, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. Ten pulled a book off the shelf, one in English, and opened it to the first page. 

_ “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”  _ Ten read to himself. He hummed. “What an interesting beginning.”

“ _ Tale of Two Cities  _ by Charles Dickens?” A voice behind him says, “Love, hatred, oppression. A war between the rich and poor.”

Ten looks to his left and sees  _ him.  _ The guy he ran into at the front of his building. “Oh—“ Ten starts, but the guy seems to notice him as well. 

“It’s you,” He says, “What’re you doing here?” Ten scans the other male. His jeans are messy with different colors and his hair is tousled, most likely from the wind. He notes he’s holding a satchel and a large flat bag. 

“I’m looking for a job,” Ten says. “Where’s the owner?” 

“Benny?” He hummed, “Lunch break. You’ll probably have to wait a while until the old man gets back.” 

“Oh, that’s fine.” Ten says, “I’d like to make an apology for my actions earlier this morning, I was tired and stressed.”

The boy stares back at him, “Apology not accepted.”

“What, why?” Ten gasps out quickly, “Have I really hurt you that badly?”

Just who was this guy?

“No,” He says, “I have my morals. You’re only apologizing for your own personal gain, to make you feel better about yourself rather than actually being sorry that you screamed at a guy that accidentally ran into you.”

Ten was taken aback, and the boy looked down, “Benjamin Franklin once said,  _ ‘Never ruin an apology with an excuse.’ _ . Please work on that.”

“Kun, are you tormenting this poor man?” An older man laughs, “Good to see you, young man. What can I do for you?”

_ Kun.  _ Ten thinks, but instead of marking Kun’s name in stone for vengeance, he marks the name as he  _ will  _ get Kun to see the good in him.

“I am looking for a job,” Ten says, ”I just moved here from South Korea.”

“Sounds lovely, I can interview you right now!” Benny smiles kindly. Behind him, he can see Kun roll his eyes, and disappear behind a bookshelf. He fights the urge to go after him, and turns to Benny and nods.

“Sounds great, thanks.” Ten replies, and he allows Benny to take him to the back. 

“Kun watch for customers!” He calls, but no response is given. “Ah, that boy. He’s a real sweetheart, but he’s very closed off.”

“You know him personally?” Ten asked. Benny nods. 

“Since he was a kid,” Benny smiles, “Parents used to come here all the time.”

No more is spoken after, instead they take their seats and he’s asked questions about himself, others, and so forth. He gives the man his number then bids a farewell, kindly and in hopes of getting the job. When Ten steps back out into the lobby of the bookstore, he walks to the last row of books and peers to the end. 

Kun is sitting there with glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, a pen behind his ear, and a pencil rapidly sketching along a canvas. 

“Goodbye, Kun!” Ten smiles sweetly.

Kun looks up from the canvas and stares at him for a second, then looks back down as if Ten had never said anything. Ten smirks and strolls out of the bookstore onto the busy sidewalk. 

He felt accomplished and he was fairly certain he got the job at Benny’s. Ten didn’t really read as much as he should’ve, unless it was blue print or catalogs that he had to— other than that he stayed away simply because he didn’t have enough time. Hopefully, Kun would show him a few good books if he bothered him enough. 

Ten managed to walk a long while, close enough to his apartment complex by foot— with the help of google maps and sore legs— that the taxi ride the rest of the way there wouldn’t be as much as it would if he went from the bookstore to the apartment. 

After he waved one down, paid and tipped, he finally settled back in his apartment. At last he decided to call Yukhei and inform him of everything. It took a few rings. If it was five pm here, it was around six pm in Seoul. Yukhei is usually up around that time. 

_ “Oi, it’s early,”  _ Yukhei yawned,  _ “How’s it going there, Ten?” _

“It’s alright, Taeyong is here so it’s not bad,” Ten smiles, “I also ate today, yes, and I got a job interview at a cute bookstore. Even better? Cute boy named Kun works there, I think he hates me though.”

“God,  _ who  _ could hate my Tennie!” Yukhei gasped, “He’s the most delicate, precious, and sweet soul!”

“Okay, asshole, enough,” Ten laughed, “How’s the company?”

“It’s business as usual, they’re going with a design that’s very similar to yours, however instead of stone they’re doing marble.” Yukhei explains, “As much as you’re mean to them, they’ve been complaining nonstop at your dad's takeover and I even heard a couple girls wish you were back.”

Ten chuckles, “See? I’m not a bad guy, I do my job right. I think my Dad wanted to get rid of me that’s all.” Ten times walks to his window and looks at the skyline that was in the distance. “But he’s done that all his life so I’m not very mad about it.” 

Yukhei huffs, “I miss you, bro.” He says, “I don’t have anyone to yell at me because your dad thinks I’ll cry if he does.”

“You would though,” Ten says, “You’re a big crybaby, Xuxi.”

He hears a whine of protest, then a bell in the background, “I gotta go, dude. See you later! Good luck and don’t forget to call!” Yukhei makes a kiss into the phone and the line is dead before Ten can respond. 

Ten feels a low rumble in the pit of his stomach, and having not grocery shopped yet he decides to just get take out and go tomorrow. Or he can order groceries tomorrow, most likely will be easier because he doesn’t have a car. He also should buy a bus ticket, because lord knows he’ll have to travel to and from work— taxis are expensive. 

He orders food and searches online for bus tickets to see what if there’s any that will pick him up nearby. Ten is scrolling through the websites on his laptop, when there’s a knock on his door. 

Confused, because he ordered no longer than ten minutes ago, he walks to the door and looks through the peephole. 

It’s Taeyong. 

Ten swings the door open and immediately is met with teary-eyed Taeyong who looks a little stiff and like he’d been through hell. 

“Yong?” Taeyong collapses into his arms, the sudden force almost knocking him down—but luckily, Taeyong weighs practically nothing and fixing them into a comfortable position wasn’t hard.

“Ten,” Taeyong cried, “Last night— me and Johnny were researching and he thought of the idea of getting a sperm donor. You know, like me and him give our sperm to someone and they carry our child—“ He cuts himself off and takes a deep breath, “We didn’t know how long it took— but we were desperate and we applied for it. Just today, like five fucking minutes ago Johnny got a call and they accepted us! Ten they accepted us!”

“Holy shit!” Ten smiles, he pulls Taeyong out in front of him. “You and Johnny will be Dad’s!”

“You’ll be The Godfather, Ten, you will be our god father,” Taeyong whispers, “I’m already thinking of names for them, if they’re a girl, I was thinking Piper, you know? It’s so cute— if it’s a boy… I’ll probably name him—“

Taeyong rants for what seems like hours, and Ten is sure that Taeyong would pass out with how excited he was getting about this. He listened to everything though— his concerns, doubts, fears, and excitement all spewing out with no seconds between. Taeyong was a lightning bolt when you needed him to be, and that was important. He kept Ten sane that there were people like him in this world. 

“I’m just, so, so happy, Ten,” Taeyong concludes, “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“Taeyong, I’m beyond happy for you and I wish for this to be a healthy journey full of happiness and success,” Ten places a hand on top of the older’s head and gives it a rub. “You’ve been through a lot, Taeyong, this is everything you deserve.”

“Thank you, Ten,” Taeyong wipes his tears with his face and smiles. “Me and Johnny are meeting someone in a few days to discuss everything.”

They sit in silence for a few moments, it’s peaceful. It’s been around twenty minutes when the door is knocked on again, making Ten get up and go to the door. 

He knows it’s his take out, and he swings the door open. 

“Good evening, sir, I have your order?” The delivery boy offers a smile and Ten nods. 

“Thank you,” Ten pulls a twenty from his pocket— for a tip, he already paid online— and handed it to him, “It’s rough out there, so please be safe.”

“Sir, the tip is very large— are you sure?” He looks up from his hand with worried eyes. 

“Of course, have a good night,” Ten says, waving off in dismissal. The boy thanks him many times before leaving. 

He turned back to Taeyong with a smile, “I have enough for two. Are you hungry?”

—

At ten am bright and early, Ten awakens with a startling screech of his phone. He groans and grabs it from the bedside table. 

“Hello?” Ten says, his speech slightly slurred, “Can I help you? It’s quite early.”

“This is Benny, son, I’ve called to tell you that you got the job!” Benny’s smile is clear over the phone, “You will start today. Your first shift will be with Kun, and he’ll show you around and get you to get the hang of the register and familiars.”

“Oh, thank you so much sir,” Ten said, “I’d be honored, thank you for this opportunity.”

“Alright, be here at 3pm, I’ll greet you when you come along. Your shift will be until 10,” Benny says, “I have to go now.”

“Okay, have a good day, Benny!” Ten replied, he hops out of bed after hanging up the phone and rushes to take a shower and apply make up. He knew there was no rush, but he still had to get dressed and find something to eat for breakfast. 

He’s decided he’ll see if there is a place that is by his apartment. After what seemed like forever picking an outfit to wear, he decides on a multicolored button down shirt and a pair of black slacks paired with a black scarf, then he looks in the mirror one last time. 

The clock reads 12:30, so Ten walks out to his living room and stays there, relaxing until it’s one. He heads out then stumbling to the sidewalks and looking around. There’s a bright colored cafe a little down the road, and by the looks of it a bus stop as well.

When he gets to the cafe, he enters and the warm sweet smell of whatever is cooking tingles his skin. Ten comes up to the counter and orders a bagel, coffee, and a donut for Kun. He might as well start making a good impression on him. Kun  _ is  _ going to have to deal with him until he’s good enough to work on his own. 

He pays then waits at the other end of the counter. His phone pings with a new message. 

_ Taeyong  _

**_1:25 PM_ **

_ Are you busy tonight?? _

_ Ten _

**_1:25 PM_ **

_ No. But I have work at three. _

_ Taeyong _

**_1:28 PM_ **

_ Crap. That’s okay, congrats on getting _

_ a job! _

_ Ten _

**_1:30 PM_ **

_ Is everything okay? _

_ Taeyong _

**_1:34 PM_ **

_ Yeah! Johnny just wanted to go _

_ out for drinks. _

Ten left it at that, because his name was called. He thanked the lady then exited the cafe. There were a few people waiting at the stop, making Ten hum in frustration because he didn’t know when it  _ would _ come. He peaks around a few people, but notices a familiar. 

He scoots forwards and pushes around a few people before landing in the spot right next to him. 

“Hello, boy who won’t accept my apology,” Ten says, “I am pleased to be in your presence!” 

Kun whips his head to look at him, and it’s the first time Ten notices that Kun is actually a few centimeters taller than him. _ Interesting.  _ Ten smiles and wiggles his fingers at him. 

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” Kun speaks the words as if they’re venom. “Don’t tell me you’re going to the bookstore right? Benny isn’t going to hire you, he has no need for another worker.”

“Funny ‘cuz I got the job and  _ you’re  _ the one training me,” Ten smirks, “Small world, huh?”

“You’re joking.” Kun says, “Benny told me last week he didn’t need any more employees.”

“Not kidding whatsoever, people change their mind, baby.” Ten peaks at the sketch book in Kun’s hands, “What’re you drawing?”

“None of your grubby business,” Kun turns away from him, slapping the sketchbook shut and crossing his arms. He notices a small shiver coming from Kun. 

“Are you cold?” Ten asks, “Do you want my scarf?”

“What—“ Kun is about to protest, but by the time he can get the first word out, Ten is already wrapping the scarf snuggly around him. 

“This will give you a little warmth,” Ten says, “NYC sure can be cold.” The other man doesn’t say anything, just continues to look away from him. Ten doesn’t quite mind though, because Kun looks cute in his scarf and the tips of his ears are red. 

Smirking to himself, he watched as the bus came to a stop in front of them. Many others filed on, then Ten let Kun get on first before him. He just had to sit next to him. 

Kun ends up sitting in the way back of the bus, already resting his eyes by the time Ten gets back there. He’s really beautiful, Ten thinks to himself. Though he looks tired, dark bags faintly seen through makeup and his cheeks are quite hollow. Ten wonders if he’s just naturally like that. He takes a seat one away from Kun so he wouldn’t wake him up, and smiled a little. 

He’d get Kun to come around. There was no way Ten could let a man this beautiful get away, and maybe during this period he can get to know more about the other and become friends.  _ Hopefully more.  _

Ten wasn't one to be really cheesy when it came to romance, he was just a charming and straightforward guy and often people that dated him found it to be very interesting. Despite his terrible luck in the dating area, whenever he had a chance for a one night stand, he’d been lucky. In fact, Ten didn’t even know what love was. He didn’t know what to do with it. 

No one was really prying or using him. Except a guy who was wanted for tax fraud, dated him to get money, but when Ten found out he had carelessly thrown him to the police. Ten wasn't someone who believed in love at first sight, because he didn’t believe in that kind of intimacy, but with Kun it had been different. 

He felt a whole emotion he’s never felt before. Kun was effortlessly the most beautiful man to ever walk this planet. 

“Quit staring at me,” Kun mumbles, “Do you have a thick skull or do you not know when to back off?”

Ten blinked and slowly formed a tight lipped smile, “Um, I think you’re a little dramatic, sweetheart.” 

“I’m not dramatic, I just don’t have a tolerance for fake nice assholes,” Kun frowns, “With the way you dress you look like some multi-millionaire who’s trying to live life as a normal civilian.” He turns and faces the window. 

_ Bingo.  _ Like a hammer to the head, Ten reaches a hand up, but retracts it into a fist and collapses against the seat with a huff. 

“I’m not fake nice, you don’t even know me personally enough to make that observation,” Ten says, “If you truly have a problem with me then I’m sorry, but just because you’re a little mad that I yelled at you the other day—  _ which I’m sorry about—  _ Doesn’t give you a right to define my entire being off one interaction!”

Kun doesn’t respond, instead he gives Ten a look of annoyance and goes back to looking out the window. 

They arrive at their stop. Ten gets off before Kun, because as much as he’s infatuated with the other man he needs to get fresh air— well as fresh as you can get in NYC. 

Benny’s is no further than a few minutes away, so Ten instantly begins his walks towards the bookstore. A hand grabs his bicep and looks at him. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have judged you so quickly. Please forgive me for not using appropriate behavior and giving you a chance,” Kun says, he’s heaving, like he just ran a block. But Ten blinks a moment and looks at Kun’s flushed face. 

“Okay, I forgive you,” Ten says, he reaches a hand and pinches the tallers cheek. “You’re cute when you’re blushing.”

“This by no means we are friends, but I don’t want us to fight,” Kun replies to nothing, he closes his eyes. “This isn’t anything against you. I just do not need distractions in my life at the moment.”

“That doesn’t mean I will give up on you.”

—

Ten doesn’t give up, every moment he sees Kun he finds it as a window of opportunity to bother him and get all in his business. Sure he knows he’s annoying, but Kun will have to get used to him sometime. 

He learns many things in the following weeks of knowing Kun. 

He’s a lot softer than his appearance. Kun acts as if he’s tough, but Ten has seen him from a distance while reshelving books, being gentle with animals and children alike. The first time Ten actually saw him smile wasn’t even to him— it was to a butterfly that accidentally got stuck indoors. 

Kun made a small cap of sugar water from his water bottle and got the butterfly to land on the palm of his hand. It was probably the most surreal thing he’s ever seen, because butterflies aren’t really common in the cities— let alone coming into the store and landing on your palm. Kun walked carefully outside and allowed the butterfly to flap away into the sky. 

Ten smiled at his return, but Kun went back to his same resting face and went back to sketching. 

Another time, after a particularly long shift Kun and Ten got off at the same time. 

“Hey, the bus stop is this way.” Ten comments, Kun turns around and shakes his head. 

“My apartment isn’t too far from here, I’ll be okay,” Kun replies, “I walk alone all the time.”

“I don’t trust that,” Ten motions a hand, “It’s supposed to storm in a few. Just come back to my place.” 

“No, seriously, it’s fine Ten,” Kun responds, “The bus is here. You should go.”

“Kun, please,” Ten whined, “I’ll feel bad if you get stuck in the rain!”

Kun closes his eyes and takes in a long inhale, then walks forwards and grabs Ten’s wrist. 

“Just come to my place then,” Kun says. He begins to drag Ten along with him, “If it’s that fucking serious.”

Ten laughs and finally meets up with Kun’s pace and reaches an arm around Kun, “I knew you’d come around as a friend.”

“We aren’t friends,” Kun bites, “Now get off me.” 

The shorter one pulls his arm away and crosses his arms, “I feel like a dog that follows his owners around, but never gets the same affection back.”

“Good, I’ll send you back to the pound if you hassle me anymore than you do,” Kun looks at him. Ten gives him a smile. 

“Oh, Kun I was kidding!” Ten laughs, “If anything you’re like a stray cat that I picked up and hasn’t given me the time of day!”

“I’m not a cat,” Kun replies. “Fuck off with that nonsense.”

“You certainly act like one,” Ten smirks, “Kitty, kitty, please accept my love for you.” 

“Sheesh. You really are an ass, aren’t you?” Kun hisses. They arrive in front of a building that looks a lot more run down than the other parts of the city. Kun unlocks the door and swings it open, there’s a staircase lit with a small yellow light. 

“This is spooky,” Ten hums, “I love it.”

“You never fail to annoy me,” Kun says, he motions for Ten to climb the stairs after he locks the door again, and as they get higher the shrill sound of rain begins to bang against the window above their heads.

“Wow, it’s a downpour out there,” Ten points out, “You could’ve walked in that!”

“I wouldn’t have, though,” They stop at the door, and Kun pulls a different key out to unlock it. And when they step in, Ten is met with a very large and open area. It looks like an renovated dance studio. 

There’s a large mirror that takes up an entire wall, then there are dozens of paintings on the floor and leaning against walls, there’s a lot of white cloth with paint all over them as well. It looks cozy, and on the other side is a mattress on the floor with a ton of blankets and pillows, a wardrobe, a shoe rack next to a long couch. 

There is a wall with stained white and black glass— Ten wonders if it’s sturdy to not break if something is thrown at it.

The room lights up well with studio lights, and Ten notices there is heating, but assumes the warmth comes from the several space heaters around the room. 

“This is a beautiful place, Kun,” Ten comments, “I didn’t know that you were a painter.”

“I have no reason to tell you, we aren’t friends.” Kun shrugs. He walks towards the middle where a wide easel with a particularly large canvas sits as well. There’s a sheet over it. He watches Kun pick up scattered paint and a palette. 

“What’s under the cloth?” Ten asks, and Kun frowns. 

“Nothing of your concern,” He replies. Ten rolls his eyes. 

He walks further into the apartment, looking at all the paintings scattered. Most were completed. He noticed one sitting on an easel against the wall. It looked to be a family, two parents and a child. The painting looked realistic. But the closer he looked, the more of a realization he made. 

“Is this your family?” Ten asks. “This is amazing.”

“Yeah, it is,” Kun looked back at him, he wiped his hands with a small cloth and walked towards him. “They kinda just… left when I was fourteen.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Kun,” Ten apologizes, “I had no idea.”

“There’s no way you could’ve,” He chuckles, “It’s okay. They were both really sick, so when they left it was more of a happy feeling. I think they went back home to China, I hope.” Kun says, he looks around. “I was heartbroken, but I grew stronger because of them. I’m a fighter and Benny has taken care of me.”

“I lost my mom when I was a kid,” Ten says, “She loved and cared for me a lot. But she got cancer, and the thing is— she— she didn’t even die because of it. Some drunk driver hit her and took her away from me.”

Kun nods in understanding, “I’m sorry too.”

Ten shakes his head, “Nah, it’s whatever. She’s watching over me. I know it.”

The two end up sitting in silence, the noise of the rain hitting against the glass panes is enough for them. He doesn’t know what it is, but something about this moment with Kun had to change the way they felt for each other. What could’ve been the classic  _ enemies  _ to  _ friends.  _ Turned to be the two-guys-that-don’t-completely-hate each other. 

Well, the hate was more so on the side of Kun, who had a small grudge and didn’t quite want to be associated with Ten whatsoever. But hopefully it could change, Ten was nearing being here a month in a half. Somewhere deep inside of him never wanted to leave if it meant being with Kun.

“You can just stay the night,” Kun finally says, “The couch is comfortable enough to sleep on and I have a spare toothbrush. You and I are the same size it looks like, so you can just borrow pajamas.”

“Thank you,” Ten replies, he allows Kun to guide him to the wardrobe and digs a little before pulling a sweater and sweats out. 

“Here, the bathroom is the door right beside my bed.” Kun points. He doesn’t smile, but Ten can feel the generosity of it. “The spare toothbrush is in the second drawer, it’s blue.”

Kun was different. 

He knew he had to be. 

The bathroom is just as beautiful as the main room, decorations everywhere and frames of scenery and what looks to be Kun with friends. On the sink is a photo of him and Benny. Ten smiles. 

Ten quickly changed and got the toothbrush, readying himself for the night. When he exits the bathroom, Kun is not in the main room. He strolls over a little and sits on the couch, pulling out his phone and messing around with a few games. 

He looks up when the door on the other side of his bed opens, and Kun comes out with two cups of tea. His shirt is loose, slipping close to his shoulder and his sweatpants fit just right. Ten smiles at him, but to his dismay still no smile in return. 

“I made tea.” Kun hands him a clear cup, “It’s lemon balm. I usually drink it before I sleep. It helps with that.”

After a long, long hour of dreadful silence and Ten bickering with Taeyong over text messages, Kun finally turned off the lights. 

“Night,” He says, Ten looks up from his phone. 

“Um, yeah, good night Kun,” Ten replies, he tossed his phone to the side and laid down, looking up at the tall ceiling. 

This was awkward.

Ten probably should’ve just let Kun go. Now he was stuck at his place, during a rainstorm, and he feels so fucking stupid. 

Sleep didn’t come fast enough, he’d like to think that Kun was asleep by now. Admittedly, the tea that Kun made was good— but it only made him  _ sleepy  _ not able to sleep. Maybe he just had a weird tolerance to lemon balm tea. 

His mind wanders a little deeper, even to the part where he thought he’d never go—  _ his father.  _ Ten always wondered why he never was the perfect son in his eyes. He did what he was told to and always made sure he was at the top of his class.  _ God  _ it pissed him off. Ten was obedient to his father— got his entire work ethic from the man, but no— he was  _ never  _ good. 

Never enough for the man, so he got sent away.

“I can hear you thinking,” Kun groans, “Jesus what is keeping you up?”

“None of your concern,” Ten snaps. He can hear Kun sit up. 

“God don’t you have any self respect?” Kun asks him, he throws his blanket off and turns his lamp on. “If you have something to say I’ll listen to you, I’m not the asshole you think I am.” 

“I never even thought you were before,” Ten rolls his eyes and turns on the couch. “If I said it’s none of your concern, then it’s none of your concern.”

“I didn’t ask you to spill everything, but when you’re thinking so loudly, by that I mean spewing random words at intervals of time— I’m going to be concerned!” Kun says, “Don’t you have someone in your life that you rely on?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Ten asks, “You don’t know me, you’ve made up your little mind about me from our first interaction. Don’t you think it hurts to be judged based on that?”

“I know what it feels like to be judged without actually being known, so we can meet on common grounds, don’t throw out everything you’ve built up until now, Ten,” Kun says. “Don’t let the hurt make you act out and get others hurt.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” Ten raised his voice.  _ Stop.  _ His mind is screaming for him to just  _ stop.  _ But Ten has a hard time controlling anger when he’s in a vulnerable spot. “We are not friends, no? Get the fuck over it.”

“Jesus Christ you’re so difficult!” Kun seethed, he placed a hand on his forehead, “Just get out.”

Ten felt the tense in his shoulders ease, “It's pouring?”

“And? Get the fuck  _ out.”  _ Kun says, “Just get out.”

Ten feels sick. But he grabs his phone and shoves his feet into his shoes and disappears out of the building into the rain. Everything has happened so fast— he couldn’t even pinpoint the reason Kun and him had fought like that. 

_ “Don’t let the hurt make your act out and get others hurt.”  _

He rubs his eyes, not from tears but from the pure onslaught of a headache coming on and his skin tingling from the cold. Ten hates New York, he misses Yukhei and his job, he misses the carelessness he had back in Seoul, now the burden of Kun was on his shoulders—

_ No.  _ Kun wasn’t a burden. He was like a gift from God, but with a reserved and wall built so high. The wall was thick, sturdy, and there was no way to knock it down. Hell, the man doesn’t even smile. 

Ten tries to calm down, tries to bring himself to think of something positive that will take his mind away from this. So he walks, his skin hurts from the rain, but he doesn’t care. When Ten looks up at the wall of a window— the light is still on and he can see the silhouette of someone standing right next to the window. 

His mind blanked,  _ fuck.  _

“Fuck this!” Ten pushed his hands into his hair, “Such fucking bullshit!”

For the middle of the night, some people still roamed with umbrellas in hand— some looked at him strange, making Ten resist the urge to flip them off. He looks back at the window and the silhouette is gone—  _ maybe he should apologize. _

But he doesn’t give in, he was  _ so  _ in the wrong, but he can’t find himself to care about it. Ten finds shelter beneath a canopy over a shop and pulls his phone out. 

He calls the only person he can. It’s one ring. 

_ “Ten?” _

Ten whimpers, “Taeyong, please pick me up.” 

There’s nothing he can do but stare at the ground, in shame, guilt, and anger. At himself, at his father— hell even at Kun who had the audacity to care for him even a  _ little  _ even though they weren’t friends. 

_ “I’m coming, give me a second and send your location.” _

He nods even if Taeyong can’t see it, he hits the home button and pings his location to Taeyong. Ten stays on the line with him until Taeyong says he’s halfway there. 

When he sees the car pull up, Taeyong parks as best as he can and runs out to Ten. He takes the younger man into his arms and pushes his head into the crook of his own neck. 

“Ten, why are you out here?” Taeyong says to him, “You’re going to get sick! You’re soaked…”

“I’ll explain to you in the morning, I just don’t want to be alone tonight,” Ten explains quietly. His best friend nods and helps Ten into the car, then starts his drive back to his own apartment that was above Johnny’s restaurant. 

When they arrive, Johnny is awake as well and he has warm clothes and a towel ready for Ten at the doorway. 

Johnny and Taeyong were his true family. The only ones who’ve been there for him through thick and thin, despite his cold shoulder at points they never gave up on him. He’s so grateful for everything they’ve done for him. 

They give him the spare bedroom, and Ten falls asleep almost immediately from the exhaustion. 

The one who wakes him up is Johnny, he says Taeyong made dinner and they were going to talk about what happened over it. Ten had no choice but to agree, as he couldn’t let his friends think that he was the victim in this situation— it was  _ his  _ fault. Ten was the one who was the antagonist. 

“So, please tell us what happened,” Taeyong said, setting down a plate in front of Ten and Johnny. He set down a plate of pancakes, sausage, and bowel of eggs in the middle of their table. “No one gets picked up in the pouring rain in the middle of the night for no reason.”

Ten sighed, “Last night, since it was raining Kun let me stay over. It was going okay and I  _ thought  _ it would be okay— but I started overthinking, I guess, and I was saying things out loud.” Ten pursed his lips, “I was thinking about my dad. It was making me angry. Kun asked what I was thinking about and we fought, then he kicked me out.”

“Ah, I see,” Taeyong says, “When do you next see him?”

“Tomorrow at work,” Ten groaned, “I’m not ready for that.”

“You cannot run from a problem you’ve created, the best thing you can do is grow,” Johnny says, “Kun was wrong for kicking you out in the middle of the night— especially during a rainstorm. But you were wrong too.”

“Both of you have to apologize to yourselves and overcome your differences,” Taeyong says, “Your personalities clash. Kun seems to be a very reserved person, while you’re a very open and adamant person about your emotions and feelings.”

“Yeah, I know— can’t really help it, especially when it’s written all over my face,” Ten rolls his eyes. The couple laughs together. 

“Don’t give us attitude, young man!” Taeyong scolds, tugging at Ten’s ear playfully. 

“I’m a year younger, boohoo old man!” Ten teased back, making Johnny giggle. 

“Can we just eat before the food gets cold!” Johnny asked. 

“Yes, and Ten… I know you. Apparently soon as possible, don’t hold this back or more problems will arise from it,” Taeyong explains, “Understand?”

“Yes, Dad,” Ten smiles. 

Ten was definitely going to avoid all of his problems. 

When he goes home that day, he calls Yukhei to tell him everything that’s going on, then goes on a rant about how to still incorporate his ideas into the build plan— despite the plan already going through with the construction company. Ten spent the day on conference calls. Even if he was away— this was still his responsibility and he couldn’t let these fall through the cracks. 

He makes dinner, watches a movie, pays taxes and rent, then he’s finally getting in bed for the next day. There’s no way this is going to end well between him and Kun. 

The next day is dreadful. Ten takes the bus to work, and sees Kun is already there working and talking to someone at the register. Instead of greeting him like he usually does, he goes to the back and hangs his jacket up, clicks in, and immediately goes to reshelving books. He spares a few glances at Kun, who looks beyond exhausted and the bags under his eyes do him no justice. 

Ten feels bad. If Kun was losing sleep because of him then he’d feel even  _ worse.  _ Because the other man didn’t deserve that. He shakes his head,  _ stop worrying about Kun.  _ The books are fairly easy to reshelve today, Benny must’ve put them in alphabetical order this morning before he left for a meeting. 

Their largest rush was finally over, and Ten was reorganizing shelves to make them look neater. Kun was relabeling and the only sound was the faint music from Benny’s radio. Ten was getting frustrated. They’d usually have a small conversation, but now the silence is giving him a headache. 

“Look, Kun, I’m sorry,” Ten finally spat out. “My anger got the best of me and everything that happened was my fault. You didn’t deserve that because my shitty ass personality got in the way of just letting you help— or something—  _ I don’t know.”  _

Kun looks up and sets a book down, looking at Ten for a moment before just shaking his head. “Does saying  _ ‘I’m sorry’ _ make a difference? Those words mean absolutely nothing.”

“Jesus Christ, get over yourself and take an apology for once,” Ten says, “You have to say something smartass like for everything that’s said to you?”

“No, only to you.” Kun replies, going back to relabeling. Ten puffs his cheeks and shoves a book into place. 

“Let me make it up to you, somehow,” Ten asks, “You did kick me out in the pouring rain, so I deserve an apology just as much.”

“You yelled at me for wanting to help you,” Kun raised his eyebrows. “I think I know where I stand and I’m right. Was kicking you out during a rainstorm wrong? Yes. Was it justified due to your actions? Yes. Will I give into an apology because you’re sad you got payback for being an asshole? Absolutely not.”

Ten frowns, “You know, for someone so smart you sure are an—“

“Mr. Man!” A voice breaks through their conversation, and two boys come in with smiles plastered on their faces. “Kun, you’ll never guess what!”

“Hey, what did I say about interrupting me during work?” Kun says to them, but both of them just laugh. 

“I got an internship!” The shorter one says, a large smile plastered on his face. “Hendery here said it wasn’t that big of a deal because it’s with a small company.”

“Dejun, that’s amazing,” Kun said, a warm smile that reaches his eyes is formed. “You’re going to be a big producer one day kid. And Hendery’s going to be the one who brings you your coffee.”

“Hey!” Ten assumes Hendery says, “I’ll have you know I am at the top of my classes!”

Kun reaches out and punches the boys cheek, “I know, I know.” 

Kun looks back at him for a moment. When they meet eyes it’s awkward, but Ten just turns away and finishes up reorganizing. 

The day is painfully long. And the longer it goes the more Ten is reminded of Kun’s warm smile, the one he wants to be given to him. It’s fairly obvious to Ten himself there is some sort of attraction to Kun— on his end at least. He’s positive Kun sees him as the devil and enemy. 

Sometimes, Ten feels like he’s in a movie and he’s the antagonist of his own villain origin story. He wonders what kind of villain he’d be if everything that had gone on in his life  _ was  _ his origin story. 

Kun is the love interest. 

Ten laughs to himself,  _ of course Kun would be the love interest.  _ He’s feisty and unforgiving. But to Ten, apparently, that makes him so much more attractive. He watches as the two kids leave, pushing and bickering with each other about god knows what— and that’s when Ten clears his throat. 

“Are they your friends?” Ten asks, he pulls the towel that was in his back pocket out and wipes his hands. 

“Yeah, I’ve known them since they were kids, my parents and their parents were friends,” Kun shrugs. “But they’re younger than me. Still in college.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m 25,” Kun hums. He pulls out his sketchbook and sets it on the counter. “You’re what, 16?”

“Hey! I’m your age!” Ten defends, “For all I know I could be older than you!”

“Impossible,” Kun says, “You can’t be older than me.”

“And why not?” Ten accuses. 

“Because I was born January 1st, unless you’re born on the same day, I’m older than you.” Kun lifts an eyebrow and looks at him. 

“Whatever, I was born February 26th,” Ten crosses his arms, “So, what do you say?”

“Pardon me?” 

“About letting me treat you to dinner,” Ten responds, “As an apology and way for us to get to know each other so we don’t constantly clash.”

Kun ponders a moment before sighing, “Fine, but if you do absolutely anything to piss me off I might just recommend you to quit your job because it’ll be hell.”

—

Ten sighs as he sits on the couch, listening to Taeyong talk about something that happened at work. He often could listen to Taeyong for hours on end with nothing boring him at all. Taeyong was one of those people who had so much to give, but never received the same amount. He had his heart on his sleeve and was probably one of the strongest people Ten had ever met. Without Taeyong, he’d be alone and have to fend for himself in a world that used to be so against him. Ten didn’t know why life treated Taeyong so poorly, hell Johnny and himself had seen Taeyong in his worst moments, struggling to keep going, but still bickering and worrying for his friends. Often, he worried for the older. He didn’t know how long it would be until Taeyong snapped. 

“I love you, Taeyong,” Ten says after Taeyong finishes ranting-- he thinks it’s about a dog or animal, Ten didn’t really catch that part of the conversation. He hears Taeyong laugh, the same airy and throaty laugh that he picked up sometime as he grew up.

“I love you too, Ten, but how random of you,” Taeyong giggled, “Why don’t you tell me about your day now? Did you apologize to Kun?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ten waved a hand despite being alone, “Difficult as always, brushing it off with some philosophical remark that I can’t remember. But I did manage to get him to agree to dinner, lunch, or whatever. So I’ll figure that out!”

“Okay, well, be careful,” Taeyong hums, “Kun looks like he’s hard to crack. But you talk about this guy nonstop so I’m assuming he’s not as bad as you complain.”

“I admit, he’s not,”  _ Because I kinda have a huge crush on this guy that acts like my existence is the bane of his own,  _ “He’s just irritating.” Ten says a second later,  _ because I’m an asshole that doesn’t know how to control my mouth when I’m faced with a minor inconvenience of annoyance.  _

Both unsaid, yet so painfully true.

“Okay, okay,” Taeyong says, the other line is silent for a moment before he sighs. 

“Are you okay?” Ten asks, not liking the sound of the sigh. “Did something happen?”

Taeyong doesn’t say anything. So Ten takes the silence as he doesn’t want to talk about it. “Just know I’m here for you okay, Taeyong?”

“Thanks,” After a beat, “There's just a lot going on at the moment.”

“That’s okay, Yongie,” Ten replies, “Take your time.”

—

Two days later, Kun and Ten exchanged numbers and made plans to go for dinner that night. Ten was excited— while Kun seems fairly uncertain about it. 

Ten says he’ll pick him up, and by pick up mean take a bus to his apartment and then take a bus with him to a Japanese restaurant he found on yelp. There were many reasons why Ten was nervous about this. 

One, being that Kun still seemed to still despise him and any wrong moves could lead to an unfortunate end— leading to his heart being broken. And secondly, Taeyong had been ghosting him for a day and a half, so he was worried about him. He messaged Johnny, but he answered with a simple,  _ ‘he’s okay, i’ll let him know you are worried.’  _

Making Ten even  _ more  _ worried. Because if he’s out and something happens, how would he explain it?

Nonetheless, he still dresses in a black wool sweater, button up, and black jeans for this, casual but fancy enough— and heads to Kun’s house. He arrives no less than thirty-five minutes later. Kun arrives at the door and swings it open. 

_ Holy crap,  _ if Ten wasn’t smitten before he definitely was now— because Kun is  _ beautiful.  _ He’s in a sweater vest, button up, and black khakis, and Ten is swooning— his smile is wide. 

“You look like a lunatic, stop smiling,” Kun grumbles, brushing past him. Ten rolled his eyes and caught up with him. 

“So I was thinking we can grab dinner, then maybe go to a park and we can talk,” Ten says, kicking a rock on the sidewalk. Kun looks at him from the side. 

“You’re speaking as if this will go well,” Kun replies with a hint of teasing in his voice. 

“I’m just saying, if it does go well,” Ten smiles, “Put some faith in me!”

Kun doesn't respond to that, just stops walking when they get to the bus stop and leans against the pole. Ten moves to stand next to him, shoving his hands in his pockets and nudging their shoulders together. The  _ slightly— _ slightly!!— older man looks at him with squinted eyes. 

“What?” 

“Nothing,” Ten singsongs, a few people around them give them strange looks, but Ten couldn’t be bothered to care. Typically, he’d shout for them being rude and staring— but he doesn’t have it in him. He has to make a good impression for Kun. To see the real him, not the hot-headed man that he knows of. 

When they got to the restaurant, Kun had not really spoken to him the entire ride there. But Ten just thought it could’ve been the lack of privacy on a bus. At least at a restaurant everyone else was talking to theirs would be drowned out. 

A nice woman seats them, and finally they’re alone— as alone as they could be. 

“Tell me about yourself, Kun, I feel like I know nothing about you.” Ten says, “If we're going to make something work I’d like to know anything there is about you that you can share.”

Kun hums for a little, “Well, I love art, reading, conspiracies theories, all of that stuff. Animals of all kinds are my favorite and I hate when people make assumptions about me.”

“You’re a hypocrite,” Ten tsks, then laughs, “Well, I love music and dance. But my father refused to let me do anything of the sort. I hate fruit, love cats, and I too hate when people who know nothing about me assume the worst.”

“Ah,” Kun rests his elbows on the table as he looks through the menu, “I suppose we’ve dug ourselves into a hole on that one.”

Ten shakes his head, “I assumed you were reserved. I wasn’t too mad despite anything I said to you.”

“So, dance?” Kun asks, “Do you still?”

“Sometimes, but back when I lived in South Korea, I worked at a major architectural company. My father owns it, and I had to take over,” Ten says, “There wasn’t much I could do about it. So eventually I danced less and less.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kun clears his throat. “Dancing is a beautiful thing that many people underestimate.”

“Truth,” Ten nods. 

A waiter comes up and takes their order, leaving them alone once more. They ended up being able to bond over a lot more than they assumed. 

“I’m really happy you’re giving me a chance, Kun,” Ten says, “I mean, I was a total dick to you but you still let me treat you to dinner and get on common ground. You’re cool for that.”

“I tend to get that a lot.” Kun says, “People see me as a timid and weird person. Then they get to know me and suddenly I’m a cool and fun person to hang out with.”

“Sometimes people are like that,” Ten shrugs, “Everyone assumes I’m an asshole, jerk, and totally inconsiderate person. I’m not. I come off like that because it’s hard for me to control the attitude I was never taught to lose.”

Ten brushes his hair back with his fingers and takes a sip of water. “And I think it’s important that people understand it from the inside perspective rather than an outside, because without someone’s true character being known— how could you live with yourself?”

Kun looks at him. “You shouldn’t have been judged so quickly, Ten. I apologize.” 

“I forgive you,” Ten says. It’s an easy acceptance. He’s sure Kun would have a ballgame if he apologized, so he just settled for a, “Me too.”

Their food comes shortly after, and for Ten’s knowledge only, Kun is the cutest eater he’s ever seen— truly. Ten smiles to himself and pokes around with his chopsticks. Their silence— for the first time in a while— is comforting. There’s no overbearing tension between them. Perhaps they just understand each other a little more, so now they don’t have to be at a constant war with each other. 

Just four days ago, they had a fight that shouldn’t have happened. Now they were sitting in a dinner, in comfortable silence, enjoying their meal. Ten looked up for a moment, only to see Kun was already looking at him. 

“If you want,” Kun clears his throat, “You can come back to my place and I can show you a few of my paintings.”

Ten nods, “That sounds lovely. I’d like to take you on a walk through the park though, if that’s okay.”

The latter sighs, “Um, okay. Yeah.” He looks around, “Listen, please remember this is the start of something, we can’t pretend the tension we had between us never existed, okay? I have to learn to trust each other for your word.”

“That’s okay!” Ten says, he smiles. He knew Kun would be hard to crack.  _ He can’t mess this up.  _

Around an hour later, both were finished and Ten went to pay the check. It only took a while, but when he returned Kun was messaging someone on his phone. Ten sat down and he looked back up. 

“Thank you for dinner, Ten,” Kun says, “Are we ready to go?”

Both of them decided on walking to the park rather than taking the bus, it’d be useless to do so as the park was only a few blocks away. They didn’t partially live in the  _ major  _ part of NYC, so it was a tad easier to get around. 

“How long are you in NYC for?”

“However long I want to be, I suppose,” Ten shrugs. He didn’t really think about that. “Luckily I have Taeyong, my best friend, here with me to keep me company or I’d be alone.”

“Taeyong must mean a lot to you, then,” Kun says, “I know how that feels.”

“He’s one of the most important people in my life, without him I’d probably be an actual jerk,” Ten laughs to himself, “But he showed me the best parts of life. I love him, he’s my best friend.”

Their hands brush momentarily and Kun quickly puts his hands into his pockets, looking down. Ten looks at the older, laughing when he sees his cheeks are red. 

“Someone’s blushing!” Ten teased, he bumped their shoulders, this time not receiving a distaste look from the other. 

Kun gives him a sharp look, “You’re so strange. And obnoxious.”

“You’d be right about that,” Ten laughs, “I only really am obnoxious when it comes to people I like.”

“Oh.” Kun says, “You…”

As soon as they reach the gate of the park, their silence is interrupted by a shrill ring of Ten’s phone. He groans and pulls it out, checking the caller ID.

_ Johnny.  _

“Please hold that thought, I’m sorry,” Ten walks a little ahead and pics the phone up. “Hey, Johnny.”

“Ten,” There’s movement in the background, “You have to come to the hospital. It’s Taeyong.”

“What?” Ten says, his heart jumps to his throat.  _ I knew something was wrong.  _ “What happened? Is he hurt?” 

“No, he’s not injured, but this morning he had a major breakdown,” Johnny explains, “Usually when these things happen it’s safest to bring him to the hospital. He’s a potential danger to himself. There’s been so much going on, paired with his depression, it’s gotten to him.”

“Fuck,” Tears form in his eyes and he lets out a shallow sigh, “I’ll be there. Please hold him tight, I just need the name of the hospital and then I’ll come right over.”

“Of course, I’ll message you, okay?” Johnny replies, “Take your time. Be careful.”

Johnny hangs up. 

Ten can feel all the bones in his body turn to jello as he makes his way back to Kun. The older male is standing there looking at the crimson flowers on the sides of the entrance. When he looks back at him, Ten notices his gaze drop. 

“Are you okay?” Kun asked, stepping closer to him. 

_ Don’t get mad,  _ “I’m okay. I need to see Taeyong, though.” Ten walks a little further, but Kun grabs his arm. 

“You’re not okay, you shouldn’t walk alone like this so vulnerable,” Kun says, “You’re crying. Let me stay with you until you get to your destination.”

“Kun, no, please,” Ten whispers, “I can go alone.”

“You can, but you won’t,” Kun replies, he interlocks their fingers and pulls him next to him. “I know we aren’t that close. But I am not going to let you be alone if you’re hurting.”

_ Stop saying stuff like this,  _ Ten wants to say. It’s not the right time, and quite frankly Ten doesn’t have the motivation to fight with Kun about it. He just nods, and Kun takes him to the bus stop. 

“Taeyong, he—“ Ten whispers, he rubs his eyes to prevent himself from crying, “He’s in the hospital.”

Kun pets his head, it’s a weird intimacy that he didn’t think someone like Kun would possess— the comfort. He wonders if he understands him enough to actually care, or if he’s just doing this because he doesn’t know what else to do.

“I’m so sorry,” His voice is sincere, he continued to run his hands through his hair. 

Ten must’ve dozed, because he was brought back to Kun saying they were at the hospital. The two walked off, Ten feeling slightly out of it and his heart clenched at the thought of seeing the one person who cares about him in the hospital. Hurting and probably exhausted. 

They walk to the front desk, and the lady smiles. “How can I help you boys today?”

“I’m here to see my friend, Taeyong Lee?” Ten hums, “He was just admitted. His fiancé called to come see him.”

“Oh, okay,” She smiled. “The room is on the fourth floor. Room 423.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.” 

Ten motions for Kun to follow him, pressing the up button on the elevator and sighing heavily. “You didn’t have to come with me, I’m sorry.”

“You need support, I’ll leave when I walk to you to the room,” Kun replies. 

Ten smiles in return, “Thank you, Kun.”

He smiles in response. 

When they stood outside the room, Ten eyed the plate bolted to the wall, Taeyong’s name and age on a card slipped behind the glass. 

_ Name: Taeyong Lee _

_ Age: 26 _

“I’ll be okay from here, Kun, thank you,” Ten turns to the older man and nods. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They share their goodbyes, then Kun leaves. Ten enters the room and looks at Johnny, who was caressing Taeyong’s hand and speaking about something to him. He looks up and motions for Ten to come over. 

“Hey, Yong,” Ten whispers, “What’s wrong, baby?”

Taeyong shakes his head softly, “I-I thought I could handle it, but I couldn’t. It was too much.”

“That’s okay, it’s okay to give up sometimes,” Ten pets the older’s hair and rests his hand on his head. “You’ve been doing a lot, you know me and Johnny would’ve been happy to help you.”

“I know,” Taeyong strains out, “But they want to keep me in here for a few days to keep watch over me.”

“Oh,” Ten says, “Will we be able to come see you?”

“I don’t think so,” Taeyong replies, “The last time I went to a hospital for this similar reason not even Johnny was allowed to see me outside the visiting areas.”

“That’s okay, you’ll be okay, Yongie,” Ten smiles, “I’m just happy you’re okay.” 

Exhaustion is clear on his face, Ten can see it. It looks like he’d been sobbing for a long time, he couldn’t even imagine how scary it was at the moment for Johnny. It had been years since any of this happened. 

That’s why Ten felt shaken. Taeyong was important to him and everyone, he often carried burdens on his shoulder that he shouldn’t. He let himself run thin once more. 

“My precious star, Taeyong,” Johnny kisses his hand. 

They sit there for hours, Taeyong doesn’t talk much at all, but eventually Ten has to go back home and Johnny too— he has to open his restaurant back up in the morning. Johnny drives Ten home, dropping him off at the entrance of the apartment building. 

When he enters his apartment, it feels cold. Like he shouldn’t be there. He should be with Taeyong right now. As much as they’re apart, it usually feels like they’re always together. Now he’s restricted from seeing Taeyong for a while. 

It’s for the best, but Ten lets the burden that he should’ve seen the warning signs push down on his shoulders. He feels exhausted and worn to the bone. Ten slides to his knees in the middle of the hall and stares at the ground. All of those late night talks, all the struggles Taeyong had been put through, all the stress he had explained to Ten— and he didn’t do anything. 

Taeyong was his best friend for god’s sake, and now it feels like they’re being torn apart by fate. 

He of course knows it’s not his fault, it’s no one's fault. But he should’ve been there and he wasn’t. 

There’s a faint vibrating that brings Ten back to reality, he looks at who is calling him and sighs inwardly. It’s Kun. 

“Hey, Benny said you didn’t have to come in tomorrow, he said to take care of yourself,” Kun says. “I told him that you had a personal issue to deal with. Take the day off tomorrow to relax and treat yourself. Maybe to get out of the house a little come over after the end of my shift.”

Kun speaks and Ten listens. The words seem so far away, but he understands that Kun is doing this to ensure he’s okay. 

“You’re not alone,” He hears the older one say, “We’re friends. Friends are supposed to help each other.”

_ Friends.  _ That wasn’t a word Ten has heard Kun ever describe their relationship. A small smile forms on his lips and he tilts his head back to look at the ceiling.

“So we’re friends now?” Ten asks teasingly, though the tiredness in his voice is evident. 

“Yeah,” Kun answers, then after another beat, “We’re friends.”

“Thank you, Kun,” Ten says quietly. “Thank you so much.”

Ten’s heart twists and he feels so  _ happy  _ for a minuscule moment—  _ we’re friends.  _ He didn’t know two words could have such an impact on him. 

“I’ll see you,” Kun says. 

“See you.”

The room is silent again, and Ten is left to his own thoughts. 

In the morning, Ten awakes with an aching back and pounding headache— on the ground. And— two missed calls from Johnny. 

Ten immediately calls Johnny back and just when he thinks he’s not going to pick up— he answers with,  _ “Good morning, Ten!” _

He rolls his eyes, “Why did you call two times? Is Taeyong okay?”

“He’s good, I was just calling about visiting times,” Johnny says, “He’s allowed visitors in the mornings around 11-1 and at night 8-10.” 

“Okay, I can come in the morning,” Ten says, “What time is it?”

“9:30, you have time. Can’t wait to see you.” Johnny says, then he hangs up. 

So, that’s how he spends his morning. He stays and talks with Taeyong until one, then he goes home and makes himself lunch. He spends his day replying to email concerns and talking to Yukhei, who insisted even with their time difference. He talks about work with him, and how the company is holding up.  _ ‘Decent.’  _ Yukhei says. 

They converse about life too, Ten helps Yukhei through his personal concerns and Ten shares his entire story with Kun— who Yukhei says he has to meet sometime.  _ ‘I’ve never seen you so interested in someone before!’  _ Yukhei fakes his tears. 

Eventually Yukhei goes to sleep, and by then it’s around six. Ten chats with Johnny for an hour before finally deciding he’d go to Kun’s. His shift ended at four, so Ten shoots a text his way and heads back out. 

He stops and gets picked up from a restaurant so that they can have dinner, then walks the rest of the way to Kun’s place since it’s close by. 

Kun is waiting for him at the door. 

“Hey,” Ten says as he walks up. Kun looks up from the book he was reading and frowns. 

“You’re exhausted,” Kun reaches a hand up to touch his face and drops his hand. “Did you sleep last night.”

Ten did. Kinda. He cried so much the night before that he passed out on the ground. “Yeah. Not very well though.” He says instead. 

There’s a lot of things that go unsaid in Ten’s mind. Like,  _ Jesus Christ, Kun you have no idea how much I wanna kiss you right now— I didn’t really think of your lips before but looking at them now makes sweat run down my back.  _

He stares. For a really long time probably, because Kun snaps his fingers in front of his face. 

“Let’s go inside,” Kun opens the door. As he goes up, it’s the first time Ten notices there’s a tattoo that disappears behind the collar of his shirt. It looked to be going down the spine of his back. 

Ten wonders what it’d be like to kiss it. Make Kun go crazy under his touch. He almost slaps himself from the thought, following Kun inside after he opens the door. 

“You have a tattoo?” Ten asks him. Kun turns around and raises an eyebrow. 

“I do.” He says, “It’s crimson flowers going down my spine.”

“Crimson? How specific,” Ten hums, “How long have you had it?”

“Four years now, my favorite color is crimson,” Kun explains, “My parents used to buy me flowers that were in the shade. So I got them tattooed to remember them.”

“Even after they left you?” Ten asks, “You’re not mad at them?”

“I couldn’t be,” Kun says, “Even if I tried to be mad at them, there’s a million reason that I can be happy they did.”

“Oh,” Ten says, “I’m glad you’re able to find peace in such a hard time.”

“Thank you,” Kun nods. He begins to pick up a few painting utensils that were on the ground. “You can set the food in the fridge for us to eat later.”

Ten walks to the small kitchen that is in the back corner of the studio. When he comes back out Kun is setting something up on his phone. 

“What are you doing?” Ten asks, going to sit next to him.

“I’m setting up music,” Kun says, “I want to see you dance.”

“Jeez, coulda just asked me for it,” Ten winked and jabbed his elbow into Kun’s side.

“Not what I meant, bird brain,” Kun groans, “You said you liked dance. I want you to dance and let it all out of you.”

Ten smiles a little. Even though he had just told Kun about it yesterday, he feels happy that Kun managed to remember something so insignificant but so important to him. 

“Thank you,” Ten says quietly. “For caring.”

“Of course,” Kun shrugs, “I care about you.”

Ten would say,  _ you didn’t a few days ago.  _ But he doesn’t. He likes this company that Kun has provided him. 

Suddenly, music ignites in the speaker across the room.  _ ‘Hard Feelings/Loveless’  _ by Lorde fills his ears and Ten smiles. 

“You want me to dance right now?”

Kun nods and Ten shrugs, jogging to the front near the mirror and stretching himself out. He looks at Kun through the mirror, his face is blank— but for a second Ten feels there’s a fondness that looks back into his eyes. 

Finally, Ten lets himself go into the sound. He hasn’t been able to do this in so long— he feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders as the instrumental fills his ears. Ten moves with fluidity he barely remembered he had. 

Something about her voice makes him just let go of everything— he doesn’t even feel himself get tired. As it reaches a more upbeat part of the song, he changes the style to be more fitting. 

The song ends and Ten collapses on the ground and looks at the ceiling with a smile.  _ Too long.  _ Kun comes to stand above him and there’s not a frown on his face— more of a small smirk as he holds his hand out. 

Ten grabs it and pulls himself up. For some reason, he has an urge to just  _ hug  _ Kun. This man had made his emotions go crazy the past two days in the best way possible. It’s like Kun  _ wants  _ him to fall in love or something. 

“You’re really good at this, Ten, you should work part time as a dance instructor,” Kun says to him when they become eye level. 

“Nah, I love dance, but there’s too much going on around me,” Ten sighs, “Thank you for that though, Kun, I appreciate it.”

He shrugs. 

How does someone tell another how badly they want to see them smile, he’s only seen it on rare occasions— but he can’t help but only want to see it for himself. 

“Let’s day shall we?” Ten smiles, rushing behind Kun. He knows the other is probably confused, but one more second and he was sure that he would kiss him then and there. Kun follows shortly after. 

—

If Ten were to count every time Kun has made his heart want to explode, he’d lose count. It’s as if Kun was teasing him and making him feel like maybe, just _ maybe  _ the feelings were returned. Every time Ten lays his eyes on the older man, he feels his heart rate pick up. His palms turn sweaty and he has this overwhelming urge to protect him. 

The only problem is, Ten knows for a fact that Kun will probably never feel the same for him. 

When Ten visits Taeyong at the hospital, he tells him all about how much he and Kun’s relationship had changed. Taeyong smiles and says he should go for it, that it seems Kun has some harboring feelings for him as well. 

Taeyong also explains that the woman who offered to carry their baby came to visit him along with Johnny. She knew that they both were good people and didn’t judge based on Taeyong's medical history or problems. She said that the baby would be lucky to be graced with parents as wonderful as them. 

Ten was thrilled to hear that. 

The pair was set to go a couple weeks after Taeyong got home from the hospital. 

Later on that day, Ten is talking to a customer about how their books are organized and Kun is checking late fees. The customer finally disappears and Ten strolls to where Kun is at and places his hands on his shoulders. 

“Hey!” The man below him jumps and turns to look at him with a scowl. 

“That wasn’t funny,” Kun says, “You almost made my heart stop.”

“No need to be dramatic,” Ten laughs, “I didn’t know you were such a scaredy cat.”

“Am not,” Kun defends, “You caught me off guard.”

“Whatever,” Ten rolls his eyes and sits in front of him. “Come over later today, let’s watch a movie!”

Kun sighs, “Fine.”

“It’s a date!” Ten zips away before Kun can protest, going behind the counter to organize. 

_ The date.  _ Comes sooner than anticipated. Ten made dinner for the two of them and chose a scary movie. Ten chose a scary movie to test if Kun really was a scaredy cat, it was mean, but he definitely wouldn’t mind if Kun leaned into him because of a jump scare. 

Ten sets the table about seven different times, either it looked wrong or just too romantic for something that was technically like a friendly get-together. He’s in the middle of rearranging the silverware on the table when there’s a knock on the door. 

He strolls over and swings it open to see Kun standing there, his hair tousled and a large sweatshirt hanging low to reveal a little bit of his chest. 

“Oh- Fuck—“ Ten sputters, “You’re much earlier than I expected. Come in!”

Kun steps inside and looks around. “Your place is very nice.”

“Thank you, I kinda added random paintings that I found on the internet to it because it was so dull when I first came,” Ten explained, “But like, yeah. If it’s messy I’m sorry I didn’t expect you for another hour!”

“Oh, sorry,” Kun says sheepishly, “I got tired waiting.”

“That’s okay!” Ten almost shouts, “Dinner is on the stove, it has a few more minutes so go sit yourself.” He motions to the square table in front of the kitchen. 

“I picked a horror movie if that’s okay,” Ten said smugly, “You know. For the movie we will watch?” 

Kun looked behind himself and nodded a little, of Ten wasn’t seeing things— there was definitely a hint of a blush on his cheeks. Ten had contemplated just going for the kiss then and there, but held himself back. 

He knew the more he got to lay his hands on Kun he’d not be able to stop— and he had spent so long preparing dinner that he was not going to let it go to waste. Ten moves back towards the kitchen and turns his back, turning off the stove and placing it onto a large plate. The salmon would be ready soon, just a little longer for it— he steps carefully towards the table and sets it down.

“This is seafood stew!” Ten smiles widely, “If it’s terrible, I’m sorry I am  _ not  _ a cook and like— I don’t even know how I managed to do this all. Also, there's a weird salmon dish that I tried out?”

The oven beeps as Ten races back to the kitchen, “I’m nervous, I really hope it’s not too bad!”

He brings the salmon over and sets it next to the stew, “Let’s eat?”

“Wow—“ Kun starts, “Ten, this is amazing, I didn’t expect you to go all out. I expected pizza.”

“Oh, well I’m not like other guys,” Ten flips his imaginary long hair as he sits, “But I figured I’d do something nice to signify and lovely friendship.”

“Thank you,” Kun smiles, he looks at the wine glasses on the table. “Is this champagne?”

“Yes!” Ten holds a glass up, “To a new friendship?”

Kun chuckles, then clinks their glasses together, “To a new friendship.”

_ Dinner _ is actually the best thing Ten has ever eaten— he’s still shocked he managed to pull this off. Kun’s cheeks are flushed, and he wipes his mouth with a napkin. “This was amazing, Ten.”

“Thank you,” Ten smiles, “Let’s watch the movie now?”

“Um, sure.” 

The two of them settle on Ten’s two-seater couch, with two blankets thrown over them. They’re watching the first  _ The Conjuring  _ movie— one that Ten quite enjoys. Kun says he’s never seen either of them. 

One of the first jump scares that happens kinda gets them both— if Ten wasn’t so focused on immediately going to hold Kun’s hand if he got scared it wouldn’t have gotten him. But as the movie goes on, Ten sees the watchful eyes of Kun looking at the screen as if it hurt his feelings, so Ten takes the time to reach over and lace their fingers. 

“If you’re scared you can just squeeze my hand,” Ten says, “These movies aren’t real. I promise, they act like they’re based off of real stories but they’re really not.”

Kun looks at him and then nods a little. He even moves closer to him on the couch. 

By the end of the movie, Ten’s hand aches but it’s okay— because a cute boy was squeezing it. He felt kind of like a protector. 

“It’s really late, I should get going,” Kun says, but Ten grabs his arm. 

“Just stay the night, I mean you’re already in sleepwear it should be okay if you just stay,” Ten smiles. “Neither of us work tomorrow. Anna and Rocco are.”

“Right,” Kun says, “Are you sure? I don’t want to be a burden.”

“You’re not a burden. Don’t say that!” Ten whacks his arm, “My home is your home.”

_ Wherever you are is home to me.  _ Ten mentally hits himself, it’s too early to say shit like that. But Kun offers and shy smirk and sighs. 

“Okay, I’ll stay,” Kun responds, “I can sleep on the couch.”

“No way, it's too small for  _ me  _ and I’m kinda short!” Ten laughs, “I mean, you’re taller than me by like what? An inch?”

“Something like that,” Kun says, “Do you have a spare room that I’m not seeing?”

“No, silly, just sleep in my bed. It’ll fit us like a glove with extra room!” Ten gets off the couch and holds out his hand, “I promise, I really don’t care about this stuff.”

Kun blinks. “You’re so sure?”

“Of course I am.” Ten grabs Kun’s hand and drags him to his bedroom, throwing him on the bed slightly. “I’ll be back, I just have to change.”

Ten grabs his pajamas and disappears into his connected bathroom and returns a few minutes later. Kun is still in the same spot he had been tossed.

“Lazy aren’t we,” Ten hummed, jumping on the bed next to him and sighing out. “Don’t be shy!” He whines and tugs on the older’s arm. 

“It’s kinda hard not to be shy when you’re me,” Kun says, “I’m not used to this stuff.”

“Well, with me you have to,” Ten purses his lips, “I’m clingy and unfathomable.” 

“You’re definitely not unfathomable,” Kun sits up and looks at him. “I feel I understand you better than I ever have.”

“Well—“ Ten tries to not let the blush creep up his neck. “You can’t just say things like that!”

“And why not?”

_ Good question.  _ Just why can’t Kun flirt with Ten?

Needless to say, Kun is the only one allowed close to the full love in his heart _ — Taeyong is an exception, that’s strictly platonic —  _ and he’s very much okay with it. 

—

There’s a change. 

Has Ten seen Kun smile at him? 

Not yet, but he feels the shift dramatically a few weeks after their ‘date.’. 

Also, Taeyong came home a few days ago, and Ten had been spending a lot of time together and going out. Taeyong has been obsessed with getting to meet Kun like he was his  _ boyfriend.  _ Or something. 

They weren’t dating. Probably wouldn’t ever date because Kun definitely doesn’t feel the same way as he does. 

Ten wants to tell Kun how he feels so badly, but how can he do that when he can’t even get a smile from him. He’s heard him laugh— but not with him. But if Kun did smile at him, he wouldn’t care what it was about. He’d probably kiss him then and there.

Kun was a beautiful man. He was lean and he had light brown hair that made him look like a teddy bear, he most definitely had the prettiest eyes Ten had ever seen, too. They were dark and they shined beautifully in the sun, if Ten had a dollar for every time he thought about kissing him— he’d be rich. His lips were full and red, so kissable— but Ten had good self control when he needed it. 

Just as he says that, Kun walks into the bookstore looking cute as  _ ever _ and Ten smiles. “Good morning, cute stuff.”

He looks up to meet Ten’s eyes and flattens his lips, “Not in public.”

“So in private?”

“No, not there either.” Kun says, taking off his bag and hanging it on the hook. “Where’s Julien?”

“I sent him home early, we’re slow today anyways,” Ten shrugged, reorganizing the items behind the counter. He turned a mini teddy bear statue and showed it to Kun. “This is you.”

“A statue?” Kun said. He walked back to the book cart and rolled it up to the counter. Ten scoffed. 

“No, a teddy bear,” Ten smiles, “It’s cute like you.”

Kun rolls his eyes and looks around as if he’s looking for something, then says  _ ‘Ah’  _ when he reaches for it. He pulls up a miniature stuffed black cat and holds it up. “This is you. A cat.”

“Feisty? Cuddly? Soft?” Ten says, “Kun, don’t be such a flirt!”

“No, annoying and intrusive.” Kun says, “But I still like them.”

Ten feigns hurt, “My heart, Kun. I think I’ll cry about this!”

“I said I still liked them, get over yourself.” Kun tsks, and pushes away again. He greets an old lady that walks in then disappears behind the aisle of books. 

After Ten’s shift is over, he finds Kun in the break room and throws himself over Kun’s shoulders. “Taeyong wants to meet you.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah, he is very interested in meeting the man who I was considered enemies with about a month ago,” Ten laughs, “Please…” He drags out, and Kun pushes his arms off his shoulders. 

“Fine.” Kun says, “I would like to meet him too. He seems like a lovely person.”

“He’s the best,” Ten replies. “I’m off. I’ll text you the details!”

—

They’re set to meet at a park, the one they were supposed to go but never go to. Ten is nervous for no reason in particular— just the fact Taeyong is meeting the love of his life (who doesn’t know he is the love of his life). Kun messages that he would meet him there. 

“Are you nervous?” Taeyong asks, “There’s no reason to be. I’m sure I’ll love Kun.”

“He’s…” Ten tries to think of how to explain it, but just shakes his head, “Just make a good first impression on him and he’ll like you. Trust me on this.”

Taeyong nods slowly. He’s been a little more quiet since he’s come back, more calm which is a good thing. Ten is thrilled about it, usually he would be worrying his mind sick about something if there isn’t a conversation going. He leans back on the bench and looks at the gate of the park. Kun should be here any moment. 

Then he appears. In all of his glory, wearing a polo shirt and khakis, typical Kun— but he looks adorable. In his hand is a book and his glasses are wired. Phenomenal. Ten waves a hand to help him out. 

Kun raises his eyebrows and strolls over. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Kun,” He says, “You must be Taeyong. I’ve heard many good things about you.”

“Yes, and you’re the infamous Kun,” Taeyong laughs, “I hear so much about you I think my ear will fall off. Ten is star struck.”

“Star struck?” Kun gives him a look, “Hm, that’s lovely to hear. Is there anything else.”

“I could write a novel with how much he gushed over you,” Taeyong smiles widely, then throws an arm around Ten’s shoulders and brings him close. “This kid is like my brother, so whoever makes him happy makes me happy.”

“Taeyong you’re embarrassing me,” Ten whines, he tries to shrug his arm off but the elder only tightens it. “Kun, ignore him.”

“I quite like what he’s saying,” Kun looks at Ten now, a knowing look on his features. “I’m sure you’d be surprised if you ever met my friends.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ten frowns. 

“It means they’d probably do the same thing Taeyong is doing right now,” Kun shrugs. “I mean, you can meet them sometime.”

“Anything to see you embarrassed,” Ten squinted at him with pursed lips. “Are you wearing blush?”

Taeyong snickers next to him, “Well it’s particularly warm out today, Tennie. He’s probably just warm.”

“Yeah, just the heat,  _ Tennie. _ ” The nickname melts off of his tongue practically, making Ten’s stomach twist. He loved that, hearing a nickname roll off the man his heart was beating fors tongue. 

“Get a room you two,” Taeyong teased. 

Ten whacked his arm, “Like you and Johnny don’t literally eat each other alive in front of me.”

Taeyong pouts, “Touché.”

Kun shifted into his feet and sighed, “How about we go get something to eat?”

“Sounds good to me!” Ten perked up and jumped next to Kun, “You can choose.”

“Wow, barf,” Taeyong laughed, “I’ll drive us to Johnny’s restaurant. We can eat there.”

The restaurant is moderately busy, with a few elderly couples and families littered about. Johnny is talking with customers, making them feel comfortable. A waiter comes up to them and seats them in a booth, saying he’ll be right with them after a group of teens come in. Ten looks away from the entrance and to Kun, who is by the wall reading his book. 

“Already?” Ten teased, “What book are you reading?”

“Oliver Twist,” Kun says, “By Charles Dickens.”

Ten quirks an eyebrow, “Is he your favorite man or something? You tend to enjoy a lot of his stuff.”

“Yeah, I like his works.” Kun shrugs, “And ‘man’, Ten? He’s an author. Don’t tell me the only author you know of is John Green?”

“I know plenty!” Ten pouts, “Besides, I didn’t grow up in America. All the books I’ve read are either in Thai, Chinese, or Korean.”

“You know Chinese?” Kun asks, “That’s cool. I do too.”

“Yeah, I know French and Japanese too!” Ten rolls his eyes and looks at Taeyong, “Right, Taeyong?”

“Yes, you only ever bring it up like every day,” Taeyong says. He looks back at the menu, before sighing, “I’m not that hungry today. But lunch is on me, okay?”

“Not hungry?” Ten asks. “Did you eat breakfast at least?”

“No, but it’s probably just the new medication I’m on, I’ll be hungry later,” Taeyong shrugs. “Plus, I know for a fact Johnny is probably going to  _ make _ me eat later. So don’t worry your pretty little head, Tennie.”

Lunch is awkward. Conversations were occasional, but when Taeyong turns to them at the exit and sighs. “I’m gonna go help Johnny, it seems he’s getting a bit of a rush. It was a pleasure meeting you, Kun.”

Then it happens. Something Ten has been  _ dreaming over,  _ he reaches a hand out and offers Taeyong a smile, a real one— not one of his fake ones that he uses with customers. Like the one Ten saw him use when he let the butterfly free, or when he sees a cute animal.  _ That one.  _ One Ten that has yet to be directed to himself— one that Ten has never received from the older. 

“Of course, Taeyong,” Kun says with his beautiful smile, “The pleasure is all mine. Thank you for lunch, I hope the rest of your day is as wonderful as it can be.”

“My, you’re such a sweet boy. It’s a shame Ten is such a pain,” Taeyong teases, “Only joking. But you and Ten seem to balance each other out. Ten needs someone to keep him grounded.”

When Taeyong is out of sight, Ten turns to Kun with a frown. “Really?”

“What?” Kun says, “Are you upset about something?”

“I am,” Ten replies. “I’m very upset.”

“Did I do something?” 

“We’re friends, right?” Ten asks, making Kun look at him with furrowed eyebrows. 

“I would consider us friends, yes,” Kun quirks an eyebrow, “What's this all about?”

“How come you can smile at someone you just met, but not even smile at me?” Ten asks, “It hurts me. I’ve wanted you to smile at me for so long, but it feels like you just don’t…”

“Ten,” Kun begins, his words are lost though. 

“...Care,” Ten breathes out, “What is it about me that you can’t even offer a smile in my direction?” He’s not one to cry, no, he’s not easily saddened by things so minor. But this hurts. 

“I smile at you,” Kun clears his throat, “You’re never looking when I do. I often just smile when you’re messing around being an idiot, or when you’re talking about something you love. There’s something about smiling in front of you that makes my heart race, so I don’t do it. You’re someone that deserves to be hung in a museum...”

Ten wipes at his eyes, “God, this stresses me out,” He replies, “I-I just… I feel so many different things when I see you smile at other people. It feels like a joke to me that you don’t smile  _ at _ me.” Stepping back, he looks at Kun’s eyes, then his feet. “I just want you to smile at me.”

“Come with me,” Kun grabs his wrist and tugs him towards the bus stop. “Come to my apartment. I’ll show you what… I mean.”

“Mean about what?” Ten sniffs. He doesn’t even know why he’s teary eyed anymore, they’ve solved the issue. 

Sort of, at least. He doesn’t know if Kun is being serious or not,  _ why wouldn’t you just smile at me even if your heart races?  _ Ten’s mind goes blank from the time he and Kun wait for the bus, to the time they get off. He barely registers that they’re in front of Kun’s place until the elder nudges his shoulder. 

“What have you been thinking about for so long?” Kun asks him, and Ten looks at him quietly.

“I don’t know,” Ten shrugs, “Nothing that will make you smile.”

Kun whacks his arm, “You’re so dramatic, you know that?”

“I’ve been told,” Ten says. They make their way up the stairs to the studio, and before they enter Kun grabs hold of his arm. 

“Before I do what I do,” Kun says, “I owe you an apology, I guess. For not smiling ever, I think I’m stupid to not do that. And what I’m going to be showing you, please don’t be weird out or anything. I’m well aware that we’ve known each other for almost two months.”

Ten stays quiet, allowing Kun to drag him inside. 

“Sit down.” Kun orders, and well, Ten does.

Kun takes a deep breath and holds a sheet over the large canvas, “Remember a while ago when you asked me what this was and I said ‘none of your business’?” Ten nods, “This is your business now. Two days ago I completed something I never thought I would finish, because why would I if I knew that nothing was ever going to happen between me and you?”

“What are you saying?” Ten asks.  _ What are you playing at? _

Instead of words, Kun takes off the sheet. 

Right there in front of him is a painting, there’s a flower in the shade crimson, and what looks to be himself holding the flower; however, the flower is covering part of his face. It’s beautiful. Probably the most beautiful thing Ten has ever seen in his life before-- Kun being an exception. It looks to be made out of oil paints, so Ten can’t imagine how long it took to even let it dry.

“Holy shit,” Ten says, “Kun this is amazing.” He steps forwards to look at it more close, absolutely starstruck.

“I-I..” Ten feels like the world is playing a trick on him. 

Kun grips his face, and Ten feels like he’s going to melt.

He’s smiling.

“You’re smiling…” Ten whispered, “You painted this for me?”

“Y-Yeah,” Kun said, he dropped his hands and looked away, “It felt kinda awkward because I was so rude to you. I’m surprised you stuck around as long as you did because I really was giving you the cold shoulder sometimes. For a long time I studied your anatomy, I would draw photos of you until it looked almost perfect, eventually I started out on it.”

“When you fought with me that night I considered throwing it all away, but then I saw you look back.” Kun said quietly, “Seeing you stand in the rain hurt. I was about to go out there, but then I saw Taeyong and just stepped back and let him take care of you.”

“Kun,” Ten said, “I felt so bad after I fought with you. I get frustrated easily, and I just ended up thinking about my father who is possibly the biggest dick to walk the Earth. I’m not excusing myself or anything, but I didn’t know how to respond other than anger in that moment. I still feel bad if I think about it sometimes.”

“Well, that’s just spilt milk now, and there’s no use crying over spilt milk,” Kun replies, “I shouldn’t have kicked you out. I don’t remember if I apologized for that.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it, I didn’t get sick or anything so there really was no harm done,” Ten smiles, “Besides, we became closer after it so maybe it was some sort of fate.”

“Fate? More like you whining so I’d go to dinner with you,” Kun rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile on his face, making Ten’s brain short circuit.

“Kun, words cannot explain how bad I wanna kiss you right now,” Maybe it was too sudden. Ten could’ve just misinterpreted this entire thing and then Kun would deny him, giving him a strange look and telling him that he’s not even gay.

“Then kiss me.”

Ten doesn’t waste time, he places a hand on the back of his head and brings Kun’s lips against his. A kiss has never felt so  _ right _ in his entire life. His lips were soft and warm just like he had pictured them to be. Kun sighs into the kiss and places his hands on his biceps, stepping forwards a little to close the space between them. 

The thing is, Ten is greedy. He wants Kun all to himself, he wants to mark him as his and never let this man go. But he has to be careful. Ten doesn’t want to ruin whatever has ju _ s _ t begun between them. But apparently, his greediness is noticeable, as Kun takes one of his hands and places it under his shirt. 

“Oh?” Ten hums, pulling away for a second, “Aren’t you a little eager.”

Ten pulls away entirely and looks at Kun’s face, it’s extremely flushed.  _ Fuck.  _ “You do things to me, I want you all to myself.” Ten whispers.

Kun lets out a breathy sigh, “I want to do it with you.”

“Seriously?” Ten replies, “You want to like, do  _ it  _ with  _ me _ ?”

“Yes,” Kun nods and looks away, “But… I’ve never done it before, I’ve kissed people and made out-- but never that far. I trust you though and I want my first time to be with you.”

“You’re one hundred percent positive?” Ten says, “Don’t feel obligated to do it because I want to. Consent goes both ways.”

“Yes, I am,” Kun responds, “I’m a thousand percent sure.”

“Okay,” Ten weaves them through the easels and when he gets to the bed, he pushes Kun down slightly. “Lay down for me, baby.” 

Kun lays back, letting out a long breath and closing his eyes. “This is nice.”

“What’s nice, you under me?” Ten teases, pulling up slightly to get Kun’s shirt off, “I mean, you could’ve just said so and I would have done this a long time ago. I’ve thought about it before.”

“I was going to say me and you being intimate like this, but you’re too horny for your own good.” Kun rolls his eyes a little, but smiles nonetheless. God, Ten loves his smile.

When they kiss again, this time Ten is straddling his waist. Kun leans back on his hands and allows Ten to deepen the kiss. As expected, Kun is eager. His hands scrunched up his comforter and Ten could feel him harden beneath him. 

“You’re so eager, hm?” Ten teased into the kiss, pulling away to catch his breath. “Do you have lube?”

Kun blushes, but nods nonetheless. “Back when I was dating my previous boyfriend we were going to… have sex, but I chickened out. He was mad so he dumped me and called me a prude.”

“Kun, that’s fucked up,” Ten said, “Who does that kinda stuff?”

“It’s fine, I wasn’t mad. I’m just happy I didn’t lose my virginity to that ass, no matter how much I feel like a loser for still being a virgin at 25,” Kun chuckled solemnly, “I mean. Who is a virgin at 25 nowadays?”

“You’re not a loser for not having sex,” Ten shrugs, “Honestly I am surprised. You have such ‘ _ I wanna get fucked.’  _ energy.” 

Kun sputtered, “Are you serious?”

“Yes!” Ten cooed, “Now, where did you keep the lube?”

—

The morning wasn’t awkward like Ten had suspected it to be. Kun had fallen asleep right after they had sex, and Ten had to wake him up to clean him up and smother him in his love. As it turned out, Kun loved to be praised, something that Ten was definitely going to start taking advantage of. 

Kun groaned and rolled off of Ten’s arm, pushing himself up and wincing when he shifted his hips. “God, my hips are sore.”

“Yeah, that happens, baby,” Ten smirks and brushes hair from Kun’s face. “Who knew you’d be so vocal, too? I mean. Jesus, I thought I was, but you’re—“

“That’s enough,” Kun whined, “But… thank you, Ten.”

“What are you thanking me for?” Ten laughed, he stood up and got off the bed, finding his discarded underwear not too far away. “You were so cute.”

“I’m thanking you for being my first,” Kun said, “I thought I would die a virgin. I’m happy it was with you… and someone I liked.”

“So… you really do like me?” Ten said, “Like actually like…  _ like  _ me?”

Kun smiles, “Of course I do you idiot.” He held out a hand to help get up, and Ten grabbed it. 

“This was definitely way more complicated than we needed to make it,” Ten pulled Kun up and wrapped his arms around the elder male, resting his chin on his shoulder. “Like, what’s with all the sexual tension we had? Why didn’t we just have hate sex or something?”

“You’re asking a man you just lost his virginity that question?” Kun giggled, “I’m pretty sure I was thinking about other things than having your dick in my ass. More like— how to get the attention of a boy you really can’t stand, but god he’s so hot and makes me flushed whenever I see him?”

“Aw, baby, you think I’m hot?” Ten teased, pinching his ass. 

“So you’re just gonna act like this all the time now?” Kun makes a twisted face, pulling away from the hug. “Who knew Mr. Ten Lee would be clingy.” 

“Oh please, Taeyong will be so relieved to get me off of his ass because of how clingy I am,” Ten smiled at him. “Can we go get breakfast? Please…”

“Fine, I feel like you’re going to make me pay for it, but might as well,” Kun shrugged, “Not like I have a way out of that.”

“Nope, you must buy me breakfast,” Ten places a hand on his head. “And Kun?”

“What’s up?”

Ten looks at the painting behind them, “Thank you again for the painting. It’s very beautiful.”

“Oh,” Kun blushes, “Don’t sorry too much. It was a pain in the ass like you, but I love it more than anything.”

“Oi,” Ten winks, “You now can confirm for a fact that I am a pain in the ass.”

Kun shakes his head as he slides his underwear on, “The things that come out of your mouth amaze me.”

The two of them end up at some weird and cranky Waffle House that Kun spotted from a few blocks away. It was run by an older woman who looked like she could blow into dust— but it didn’t really matter to either of them. The food was still good, and the two of them were still able to enjoy each other’s company even through the 60’s pop station playing through the old speakers. Behind them were a group of loud teenagers, laughing and having fun. Something Ten really couldn’t enjoy as a teenager. 

Ten is grateful he was sent to New York. Despite his distaste for it at first, it slowly grew into something he was happy that had happened. It seemed all of the attitude problems he had dissipated slowly, and he was able to understand what it meant to be loved. Maybe it’s too soon to use that word, but Ten knows that he will be with Kun for a long time. 

Through all of the hell that only two months had put the two through, he was happy it came to an end. Sure they may bud heads again sometime in the future, but now with a healthier understanding about one another the problem would be able to be resolved quickly. 

And of course, Ten couldn’t forget his company that he had run for so long. But living in New York City with the person that he cared so much for, working a small, but good job was something that made him happy. 

Ten didn’t feel happy working his job, so he’d make plans to make Yukhei the CEO in his place. He’d still go on call with any concerns that the younger had, but Yukhei was bright and capable for the job more than anything. Plus he was kind, understanding, and has proved multiple times he was worthy of the spot. 

So in the end, it would all work out. But right now, with the laughter of teens, some 60’s hit— maybe Elvis Presley— playing, and the gentle stares he and Kun have shared made him feel the most comfortable he had ever felt in his life. 

There were ups and downs, but with every down the up came quick and wasn’t lasting forever. 

“Hey Kun, what did you decide to name the painting that you made?” Ten asked, “I mean, every painting has a name.”

Kun smiled a little, then took a sip of his water and shrugged. 

“The Crimson Flower.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> PHEWWW THAT WAS A LONG ASS RIDE 😭please tell me your thoughts and everything in the comments. it will unbelievably be appreciated.
> 
> also i’m sorry for the ugly — signaling like a cut off?? i use that to help me distance the times!!!
> 
> TNANK YOU FOR READING COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE APPRECIATED 🥺🥺🥺


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